


A Game Between Gentlemen

by Joey_Lanuza



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Which I'm sure my mother does when she looks at me, and it's like a werecreature AU, it depends, lots of suffering, maybe a happy ending., some of the writing choices I made I look back on with REGRET, this is written before volume four
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:09:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 49,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26815645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joey_Lanuza/pseuds/Joey_Lanuza
Summary: War is just like chess, two men moving pieces around in hopes of besting their foe. And yet, how does the game pan out when lives are at stake? Choices, moves, and the consequences will leave lasting effects. Who will be the victor in this game? AU- ALL FAUNUS ARE WERE CREATURES. Grimm still in play as well. Plot with eventual porn.This is a re-upload from my FFN account, and will not be altered in any way during the reposting process. The basis of this fic is playing a chess game. Keep that in mind for the chapter names, which are all the moves of a chess game I played against myself to write this with the right plot beats. Please note that some of the chess moves are done for reasons of plot, as no one would actually do them in a real game.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, More to come, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, polycfvy
Kudos: 9





	1. Setting the Board

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is something I have been slaving over for a long time to get right. It will be updated ONCE EVERY OTHER MONTH. I need time to work on so many other things, and with the holidays in the states coming up fast, I have too much other stuff to focus on to do this constantly. And honestly? Having there be a posting schedule that isn't horribly demanding means I don't get as stressed out and reduces writers block. The chapter titles will be chess moves, Roman as the white pieces and Ozpin as the black ones; if you read it through, you actually can play out an entire game of chess between the two of them. This is AU.
> 
> How is this AU: The Faunus are all weres. Werewolves, werebulls, werecats, wererabbits, you get the idea. Every full moon, they shift into their animal forms, and try not to get lynched by humans. In their human forms, they have NO physical animal traits. No ears for Blake or Velvet, no tail for Sun. They look completely normal, but may carry personality traits/quirks.
> 
> WARNING: Contains blood, gore, violence, language, and bigotry/racism. WILL contain all of that and sex, sexual themes, sexual situations, and sexy time. Please, for the love of all that is holy, don't be a douche if you don't enjoy this. I have little tolerance for jerks.
> 
> With love,  
> Korrupted.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR THE CHARACTERS. Well, aside from the random side characters used to help the story flow.

Yang yawned and stretched lazily, the four year old rubbing at her eyes as the full moon peeked through her windows. The soft light illuminated the slumbering Ruby in her own bed, but the blonde child gasped at the glowing white orb. It was a full moon! That black kitten always came around on full moons, and even though she was fully aware of the danger on these nights, she still had to go find the tiny kitten. As quietly as a lumbering bull, the child tripped over her sheets, then shoes, then toys, and finally on the window sill as she face-planted onto the soil only a scant three inches below when she climbed through. Rubbing her face, Yang Xiao Long got to her feet and hurried through the garden, her ears straining for any sounds that could indicate a need to shriek for her mother and father for help. The moon was full, and the Were creatures were about.

She could recall all of her lessons on the beasts; weres were huge monsters, creatures of the night that became blood-thirsty animals under a full moon. Dangerous, deadly, and something to be feared. As humans, they were typically rough, aloof, and sociopathic. Yang had never actually met a Were, but they sounded terrible. Her mother had to contend with them on top of the creatures of Grimm, making for even more of a frightening beast to imagine; anything that put Summer Rose on her guard was surely something to be properly feared.

A tiny mewl broke through her thoughts, lilac eyes turning to meet golden-amber tones in black fur. A smile grew on her lips, the kitten walking closer as the child knelt to the ground, her hand extended. Soft fur was brushed against her palm, watching as the feline nuzzled her hand happily, a hearty purr rumbling in the tiny frame. "Hiya kitty." Yang whispered as the young animal nudged her coat pocket with it's nose, locating the tuna she had smuggled out for the occasion.

With a wide grin, the pigtailed girl pulled free the can, taking off the lid as the animal half pranced around her knees in excitement. When the tin was placed on the grass, the black cat instantly began to happily eat the contents as Yang scratched along it's spine, taking a moment to check the gender of the feline. "Well girl, I think I'll call you Shroud." She cheerfully muttered, amber eyes glancing up before a happy mewl was the answer. "Shroud it is."

Shroud finished her meal before licking her black paw, washing her face before nuzzling her cheek along the human girl's. It seemed that the kitten liked her, the Xiao Long girl decided, and she was more than happy with that. A rough texture grazed along her eyebrow; Shroud was apparently trying to bathe her. "I fell on my face coming out tonight. Graceful me, huh?"

A tiny meow interjected, more purrs rumbling as the dainty creature continued to lick her face. The kitten began marking her face heavily before curling up in her lap happily, the child stroking the soft fur with cautious care. She loved seeing the kitten, and had spent a few months trying to see her other nights of the month only to be disappointed. The first time had been seven or so months ago, and it had been for a moment when the kitten crossed her path. The next time, it had been for a few minutes from afar, as if it was studying her. This trend had continued until last month, when she had opted to sneak out a can of tuna, sitting several feet away to watch her eat before she gained a nuzzle and soft mewl of thanks before she fled. This time, Shroud seemed to be content to spend time with her, and to the nearly five year old girl, it felt like a massive victory.

However, the kitten's black ears perked up, looking into the trees before huffing irritably. Golden eyes met lilac, and the feline stood with her front paws braced on the child's shoulders, nuzzling her face affectionately until she scampered away. "Awwww... Bye, Shroud!" Yang called after her. "See ya next month!" And after a moment of watching where the cat had gone off to, the girl turned and began her trek home.

* * *

Her paws were moving quickly across the leaves, her eyes carefully tracking everything as she fled through the underbrush. Blake knew that her mother had warned her about humans, but this one seemed so nice to her, and she looked about her age! For a werecat, she was a bit of a runt, her younger twin bigger than she, which irritated her to no end. Finally, she reached the clearing her family used to shift in, skidding to a halt in front of her clearly angry mother. The tortoiseshell werecat was huge, standing as tall as a single story house and barely hidden by the trees, her golden eyes angry moments before a large paw swiped out to cuff her. "Blake Belladonna! You know it's dangerous to go roaming the woods alone!" She scolded, the hissing and yowling clear words to other weres. "I had half a mind to go after you myself."

Blake glowered at Gambol from her splayed out position, the black and white marked were watching her rather smugly. Of course he would have ratted her out to mother. "But, there was this girl. And she was really nice-" The young child began.

"And being around _humans!_ Blake, you must be more careful! Humans are mean, vicious creatures who will kill our kind as soon as look at us." The massive feline growled loudly. "Come, Gambol. Blake. We are moving locations. And next month, we will not be returning to Patch to change."

The tiny bundle of black fur scrambled to her feet, rushing after her mother. "But, Mommy! She's nice to me! She fed me! Maybe she's different!"

Golden eyes locked with hers. "Humans are all the same. They killed your father."

"Maybe _you_ think they are, but I like this one!"

The argument was quickly escalating, and young Gambol wormed between them. "Mom, Blake, _please_ stop!" He pleaded, "Maybe the younger humans don't know we're weres, so they like us."

Yolanda huffed slightly, looking at her son warily. "All humans hate us, Gambol. Your father was killed when he tried to help a human."

The tiny bundle of fur puffed himself up, trying to be as brave as his twin. "What if we can prove their kids don't? Then can we at least keep coming here to change?"

The adult were sat, thinking. If she agreed and they proved her wrong, then it would be a start, she supposed. And if they proved her right, then she might have to kill a human to keep her kittens safe. Should she do this? The were cat looked at the sky, noting that it was likely only nine or ten at latest; humans would probably think the twins were just strays at this hour, keeping them safer. "Only if I choose the human." Yolanda relented at long last, seeing both of her offspring brighten instantly.

With her long tail flicking softly, the large were lumbered carefully though the woods, halting when she noticed a pale child with ice blue eyes and hair as white as snow. She looked soft, so if she did anything to hurt her children, the changed woman could easily bite the child in half. "This one. If you can show that she is different, then we will continue coming to Patch on the full moons."

* * *

Weiss hadn't meant to get so separated from her family when they had returned home from their late dinner out, but her hat had gone off with a gust of wind and without thinking, she had given chase. Now, the young Schnee was scared and alone in the Howling Woods on a full moon; her father was going to be furious when he found her. Weres were out and about as well as the creatures of Grimm, and so when a bush rustled the white haired four year old screamed in terror.

Until she noticed two kittens padding out towards her, their gold-amber and green eyes blinking up at her blue. She exhaled and tried to calm her racing heart, trembling as she lowered herself to her knees. She, Weiss Schnee of Schnee Dust Company, had been scared by kittens? It was comical. Reaching one hand out shakily, the kittens hesitantly walked closer, sniffing her fingertips delicately before purring softly. The gentle sound soothed the young heiress, a smile slowly finding it's way onto her lips. "H-hi there..." She crooned softly, watching the kittens carefully. "What are you two doing out in the woods this late? Did you get separated from your family too?"

Yolanda watched the girl as she remained low to the ground, her golden eyes softening as the human child relaxed more with her kittens. Maybe Blake and Gambol were right, and humans were changing how they thought about weres. Neatly tucking her front paws under her, the werecat settled into the dense brush to keep a watch over her children, and the girl; she might as well look after her until her parents found her.

Weiss giggled happily as the two kitten nuzzled her skin and purred, feeling far less alone and afraid now that she was distracted. The black and white kitten sneezed so hard at one point that it flopped onto it's rump, blinking in surprise while the black one chirped at it. She liked these two cats very much, and she might as well wait with them until either their family came for them, or her parents found her; at that point, she would totally have to beg her father to adopt them. Winter may still be an infant, but she would probably like them too.

A low barking in the distance drew all three of their attention to the direction it had come, the blue eyed child feeling nervous once more. Had that been a dog, or a canine were? She didn't know, but she didn't want to find out. Another round of rabid barks, this time snarling and clearly aggressive made her shudder, but the piercing scream that followed them made her blood run cold. "MOTHER!" She cried out, standing quickly. She had to go help her mother, to fight somehow. She had a few vials of dust, surely that would do the trick.

However, a black blur stood from the brush, moving to tower over her and stare down at her. Ice blue eyes were wide at the soft fur, the orange, cream, and fawn tones, the huge golden eyes. It was an adult werecat, and the young Schnee was frozen in absolute terror at it. The gigantic muzzle leaned down, nuzzling the kittens who mewled in voices high with worry before looking back at the human once more. _'Watch them until I return'_ the feline's gaze seemed to demand before dashing off in the direction of the scream.

Weiss looked down at the two kittens, realization hitting her that they were the offspring of that werecat, but they looked just as scared as she felt. Now that she knew what they were, she reached out only to see them cower, as if afraid to be hurt, and that bothered the child deeply. "I didn't hurt you before, so why would I hurt you now?" She questioned sternly, seeing them relax slowly.

* * *

The branches tore at her fur as she ran, but she had to get to the woman. Weredogs were highly territorial, and it could only end with one party dead; and Yolanda had little faith in the human coming out as the victor. She skid into a less wooded section, spotting the huge dog snarling down at the woman, drool hanging from his jowls. "Human, die!" He barked at her, the white haired female groping around her belt for something.

As much as the werecat hated humans, she didn't find it within herself to attack unprovoked, let alone kill. It would only serve to give humans more reasons to hunt them along the Grimm. With a yowl of anger, Yolanda raced at the other were, knocking him aside and slashing at him viciously. Large jaws snapped at her clawed paws, hissing and barking echoing through the forest. She slashed the dog across from muzzle, ruining his eyes in the process as it bit her paw painfully.

A click behind her alerted the large feline to possible danger, a blast of fire dust narrowly missing her fur to set the canine ablaze. Golden eyes turned to look at the human as the dog crumbled to the ground, seeing the white haired woman lower her revolver and panting. "Th-thanks."

Yolanda bowed her head and limped over, the sound of howls echoing through the forest now. Of course the wolves would help the dogs, if for no other reason than to frustrate a werecat. She growled, facing where the smoldering corpse of the other were lay, trying to prevent any more bloodshed. A werewolf snarled at her from the shadows, leaping at her and attempting to kill the cat, Yolanda doing all she could to kill the female wolf instead. "Stop this! You're giving them excu- _AHHHHH!_ " She yowled as a lucky bite sank into her shoulder.

Flashing her own teeth out, the changed woman clamped down on canine's windpipe moments before she heard the strangled cry of pain from the human. She turned, seeing a young werewolf tearing into her body violently, the poor woman still alive. Limping, she threw herself at her new target, biting her throat mercilessly until the smaller form sank lifeless to the grass below. Slinking in a pained gait, she looked down at the dying woman, her eyes full of sadness. She would not live, and if she left her to die on her own, it would be several long, excruciating minutes before she was even unconscious.

"K-k... Ki...ll me..." The blue eyed woman pleaded.

Yolanda bowed her head down, gently lining up one of her enormous canines with her throat, and biting hard. A quick death, the death that otherwise would never have come. She could hear small footsteps running towards her, and also large ones, looking up to see a male with a dark beard and white hair all but crash onto the scene. "Aurora..." He whispered as his sapphire hues took in the bloody corpse of the woman, then the blood on the were's muzzle. _"Murderer!"_

She couldn't explain, unable to inform him of her innocence as a large gun was leveled at her. This was it. She would die because another human jumped to conclusions and kill her just as they had killed her husband. They really were a cruel lot.

However, a small black and white form dashed between her and the man, mewling desperately at him. _"Wait!_ Mom had only come when she heard the lady screaming! Mom would never kill a human! This can't b-"

Gambol's words were cut short as the trigger was pulled, a hail of bullets raining down upon both mother and son. A shrill screech punctuated the air as both fur covered forms dropped to the bloody dirt, the man turning to see his daughter staring on in horror.

 _"MOMMY!_ "

"Weiss, stay back!" He shouted, unloading another dust enhanced round into the creatures when the larger body twitched.

The girl was sobbing, staring on in pure shock and disbelief at the three bodies. When the black kitten darted out to mewl pathetically at her mother, trying to use her muzzle to rouse the unmoving form, she watched her father once again lift the weapon. He was truly talented with Glacier Kiss, and she only had a sparse moment before her killed the last one. The child quickly raced out to plant herself between the young were and her father, still crying. "No! Daddy, please no!" She begged.

Adler Schnee had to use every ounce of reflex to pull his finger away from the trigger, his face wet with his own tears. "Weiss, sweetie, please move aside so I may destroy that _monster._ " He demanded in a voice thick with sorrow.

But the child remained steadfast, her arms outstretched to appear a larger shield as she shook with sobs. "Please, Daddy. D-don't. Just please... Please, no more, please..." She begged. "The c-cat tried to help Mother... The kittens ke-kept me com-ompan-n-ney. Don't... Don't..."

His lower lip quivered, his deep sapphire hues still spilling over with tears as they looked from his daughter, to the final were, to the dead felines, and finally to the werecanine corpses. His hand trembled as he lowered Glacier to his side, rage and sorrow painted across his features."If I _ever_ see that creature again, I will not let it live a second time." He stated in a voice choked with anguish.

Weiss turned to the small creature when a loud snort sounded off to her far left, the kitten snapping to attention through it's sadness. The sound repeated, followed by a bull grunting anxiously, and the black werecat stalked off with a final look at the humans and dead weres, then scampering towards the source of the bullish noises. Against her better judgement, the young Schnee ignored her father and followed the kitten, staring in wonder at a strawberry roan bull the height of her father standing before the tiny kitten. Silently, the child stood there, watching his brown eyes soften while the werebull nodded, as if agreeing sadly with the mewling kit; changed weres could speak to others not of their kind? She never knew that!

At long last, the duo walked away, the young werecat looking utterly lost next to the larger one. Weiss returned to her father, and broke down completely, Alder pulling her into a firm embrace as he too wept over the loss of his beloved Aurora. Winter would be raised without a mother, but he swore to keep both of his children close to his side to protect them. The moment Weiss ever managed to produce an aura, he would have her learn to use it properly, and doubly so for her sister. He couldn't lose all he had left of the woman he loved to those monsters.

After using his scroll to call several guards to the Howling Wood, he turned the now slumbering child over to them. "Get her home and under guard. If any were come within a thousand yards of our house, kill them." He instructed, a second guard speaking up.

"Sir? What will we do about the bodies?" The female questioned.

Adler turned to face the dead weres, looking over the lot of them with cold hate in his eyes. "Burn them. Burn them all." His fists shook with heartache and rage. "Especially the damn werecats. Not a trace of them may remain, do I make myself clear?"

A quick nod. "Yes sir. Crystal clear."

* * *

When the feeble rays of morning struck the child, she was already panting from the combined pain of changing back to her human self and exhaustion. Naked, alone, cold, and full of despair, Blake began crying aloud in the woods, blaming everything on herself. Knees drawn to her chest, the girl wailed and sobbed, tears both burning and freezing on her skin. If only she hadn't gone off to see that blonde girl. If only she had told Gambol that their mother was right. If only...

A gentle hand touched her shoulder, amber toned eyes looking up to see a boy of roughly fourteen standing beside her, his brown hues full of concern. He was already dressed in clothing that the child had no idea the origin of, his red hair marked by a streak of chestnut brown along his forehead above each eye. "Hey... Blake. I know it hurts, but we need to get you dressed, okay?" His voice was only slightly rough, but kind, full of concern.

Sniffling wetly, the young were nodded, standing shakily as the teen picked through what appeared to be a pile of children's clothing. Where had he gotten such a collection? Slowly, they located underwear, pants, a shirt, socks, and shoes for her, all the while Blake struggling to recall his name. "Excuse me?" She spoke in a voice cracked from crying. "What was your name again?"

The werebull boy smiled at her softly, finding a comb amid the clothing to fix her hair. "My name is Adam. Adam Taurus. I can't remember your last name, though. Sorry." He apologized.

"Belladonna."

His gaze was gentle, which seemed absurd considering his were nature. He seemed to be taking extreme care with her, and it was nice. "Nice to meet you, Blake Belladonna. Pretty sure I'll need you to tell me a few more times before it sticks." She giggled. "Let's get you to the camp, then. It's on the mainland, and a good three days walk."

Her amber eyes blinked in confusion. "But... I wanna go home." Her eyes watered back up. "I want Mommy, and Gambol, and Daddy... I wanna go _home!_ "

Adam knelt and embraced the crying child firmly, his own gaze burning with tears. He knew this pain, the pain of being alone, and scared. He could help Blake, though. "Shhh... It's okay, the camp is for weres. The White Fang will help us out, and we can even learn a trade skill. I have an aura, so I learned how to fight."

Her eyes went wide. "But... I don't see a weapon!"

The werebull snorted softly as he smirked. "Had to leave it at camp. We have a few trusted weres watch our camp, but we have to leave the weapons so we don't hurt anyone by accident." Adam took her tiny hand in his, standing and leading his new charge through the woods. "If you have an aura, I'll train you myself. So, let me tell you about the White Fang."

As they wandered, Adam told the child all about the peaceful group, how they were working with the humans to get the equal rights, and prevent the slaughter of their kind. Amber eyes were wide wonder, asking questions as he cooked what they could scavenge, telling him about her now shattered life and dead family. At night, he held her as she cried, rocking her to sleep with a softly hummed lullaby, drying her face as she slept. In Blake, Adam saw much of himself, and he swore he would keep her safe.

Even if it cost him everything.

* * *

**-TEN YEARS LATER-**

Blake was struggling to free herself from Adam's hold, her amber eyes wide in her olive toned face. The mask he had worn for the last three years hid his expression from her, obscuring his eyes from her sight; she missed seeing those brown eyes terribly, and the boy who they had belonged to. Again, she tried to wrench free as he snorted, planting his feet more. "Blake... Stop it." He hissed to her.

It was the day before the full moon, and her strength was at it's peak, but so was his. She had to escape, to flee what the White Fang had become. Now they were no better than the humans who sought to murder them; they targeted humans who were known to be violent to weres or refused to do business with them, their families also used for leverage if they didn't kill that at that time. The young teen had only gone on theft raids and small vandalism jobs, but it was enough to disillusion her of what they were doing was still the right thing. Once upon a time, they had tried to reason with humans, to earn respect and equality through education, protests, and boycotts. The werecat didn't want to hurt Adam, she wanted him to change his mind, let her go, and run with her to freedom. He was her only friend, the one who had always kept her safe, who never tried to hurt her at all.

To the fourteen year old, it was cruel to be in this position; they were at this stalemate only a few yards from the compound gate. He could run with her, and she knew they could make it past all the sentries, to the forest, and out of this nightmare. Instead, Blake could hear shouting in the distance, watching as her friend and partner turned his masked face towards the others, yelling back, "I've got her!"

Offering up a silent apology to her friend, the young were took advantage of his distraction to yank her arm free, grab her weapon, and strike him hard across his head with the flat of Gambol Shroud. The man dropped to the ground unconscious as she fled, using her semblance twice to help her leap over the fences, minding the bow that was still tied in her hair; it had been a gift from Adam on her tenth birthday, and she refused to leave it behind. With a heavy heart and nothing left to lose, the were ran as fast as she possibly could to a place she had only heard of and barely remembered from the previous leader of the White Fang.

Vacuo, and hopefully, a place that even a were could belong.

* * *

Roman/white pieces-

Queen side rook: Mercury  
Queen side knight: White Fang lieutenant  
Queen side bishop: Emerald  
Queen: Cinder Fall  
King: Roman Torchwick  
King side bishop: Neo  
King side knight: Junior  
King side rook: Adam

Ozpin/black pieces-

Queen side rook: Ruby  
Queen side knight: Weiss  
Queen side bishop: Jaune/team JNPR  
Queen: Glynda Goodwitch  
King: Professor Ozpin  
King side bishop: Blake  
King side knight: Yang  
King side rook: Coco/team CFVY


	2. White Pawn to F4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: With the passing of Monty, the RWBY community took a massive hit in the last week. It has been sad, but we must keep his legacy alive. Create as he did. Make things, write things, draw things. Honor Monty's life by keep moving forwards. We'll see him again, an when we do, we just have to be careful about setting foot in the after life.
> 
> Because now I'm fairly sure that 90% percent of things there are now also a gun. Rest well, Monty Oum. We are ever in your debt.
> 
> With love,  
> Korrupted.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY.

Ruby stepped around the puddle of vomit the blond boy had hurled onto the floor, her left arm still firmly linked in Yang's right while her silver eyes looked over the campus. Beacon Academy stood only several thousand yards away from the duo, the young Rose staring at it in open awe. Hundreds of students milled around, some clearly first years like she and Yang, others obviously far more confident as they watched the newcomers step off the train, almost scrutinizing them visually. It was unnerving, but still ever so exciting for the hopeful youth.

"Oh, hey. Here's my friends so…. _I'llseeyoulaterkaybye!_ " Yang rushed out, quickly vanishing from sight with a pack of first years, leaving the young Rose sputtering.

Pouting slightly at being alone in completely unfamiliar territory was much like being left half-drowning in shark infested waters, and the young teen was highly displeased. At least she had Crescent Rose with her. Ruby took to petting and crooning to her weapon lovingly, assuring her that she would never leave her side like that. She was so enraptured by her faithful weapon that she simply walked into a very small woman (or possibly very tall child), flailing wildly in an attempt to keep her balance.

"Watch where you're going, you dolt!" A shrill voice scolded her vividly.

It took Ruby a good several minutes to realize that the source had been the girl with white hair, pale skin, and startlingly clear blue eyes. The clinking of rolling glass caught the scythe wielder's attention, looking down in time to see the mystery child -possibly teen- snatch up a corked glass container with an odd red powder inside of it. "Do you even _know_ the damage you could have caused just now?! This is dust." The girl with the scar and really angry blue eyes informed the hooded teen in a huff, brandishing the item like a weapon.

The dust, ironically, blew dust around into Ruby's face, her features screwing up slightly as it itched her nose. "Mined and purified from the Schnee Company quarries."

The scarlet cloaked girl was fumbling for words, baffled at the verbal assault. "I uhh… I-I ummm uhhh…"

The white haired girl grew swiftly impatient. "What are you, brain-dead? _Dust!_ " She still waved the item about, the colorful cloud growing. "Fire, ice, earth, lightning, power!"

Ruby was weaving a little as her nose itched, her face scrunching up as every flourish sent more dust her way.

"Is any of this sinking in? Just what do you have to say for yourself?!"

With a final wild brandish of the vial, the girl glared down at the young Rose, waiting impatiently for an answer. Ruby was instead trying her best to stave off the tickling in her nose, her hands waving around uselessly before she succumbed. With a mighty sneeze, the cloud of dust ignited and sent her all but flying rather comically backwards several yard, a plume of flames striking the white haired female as the vial went airborne.

* * *

Blake heard glass tinkling and rolling towards her, something tapping her boot lightly that caused her to glance down from her book. A glass vial filled with red dust, corked irresponsibly sloppy to allow minute amounts to seep out, and emblazoned with the Schnee crest. The dust was irritating her nose, her senses already heightened with the full moon in a few days, and it was making her skull throb painfully; whatever idiot corked this vial should be slapped a few times. Bending down to scoop up the item, the young were looked over at where two girls seemed to be having a spat, the same crest on the back of the pale blue bolero jacket. Golden hues narrowed as something tugged at her mind about the furiously shrieking girl, as if the faint recollection of a dream was trying to make itself known to her.

Shaking it off, the girl stalked over gracefully, her raven hair like a flowing mane around her shoulders. Blake caught the tail-end of the conversation and the word 'princess' thrown at the blue eyed teen. "Heiress, actually." The werecat stated in an even tone, both girls looking at her. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

The tiny female seemed to puff up with pride at her words. "Finally! Some recognition." Weiss crowed smugly.

The amber orbs flashed dangerously. "Also known for their controversial workforce, questionable business partners, and unsavory use of Were creature labor during the days before they change. Not to mention the several accusations of hunting weres during full moons for sport."

"Buh! I uh! That's…" Weiss couldn't shake those amber orbs, the faint sensation of deja vu tugging at her mind as she looked at them. It was disarming, and it shook her to her core, even though her face remained a mask of unsettled anger. " _Ugh!_ No respect from you people! Give me that."

Blake watched as the vial was snatched away, sniffing at the younger girl when the wind changed very covertly. The air was warm and filled with the sweet scent of sugar, strawberries, and roses, her golden hues quickly appraising the girl. She had to be even younger than the Schnee, and twice as clumsy. Quickly, she turned to walk away, her book once again under her nose as she stalked off to the main hall. She would get to the bottom of why Weiss struck her as vaguely familiar after the initiation ceremony and the full moon.

* * *

Ruby sighed sadly at the retreating form of her momentary savior, feeling more alone than before as she stood in the middle of the pathway. Slowly, the scarlet haired girl sank to her knees, then flopped onto her back on the cobblestones, sighing despondently. "So….. Welcome to Beacon." She murmured, silver hues sliding shut.

A shadow fell upon her, and she looked at the darkened form that stood over her. "Hey. You alright there?" A slightly worried but gentle male voice questioned.

Shielding her silver hues from the sunlight, Ruby squinted at the newcomer, identifying blond hair, fair skin, and armor. Something about him seemed familiar, and as she took his hand in hers, it clicked.

"Wait, aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

* * *

The duo walked through the courtyards side by side, pleasant banter passing between them. They had gotten lost, misdirected, Jaune had fallen into the fountain twice, and somehow had managed to make it to the auditorium on time. How was beyond them, but they had managed success and that was all that mattered. "Oh!" Ruby stated at the sight of the sight of a familiar blonde mane. "That's my sister. See ya! Yang!" And started off for the lilac eyed girl.

Yang turned and waved back, watching her sister hurry over. "Hey! You're late. How did everything go so far?"

Her little sister sighed, shoulders sagging. "Terrible! First you ditched me, and then I was lost, and I bumped into some really mean girl, and then I exploded!"

Yang blinked and held her hands up. "Whoa, calm down there." She attempted, trying to calm her frantic sibling.

"No! There was fire, and yelling, and I just wanted for it all to stop, and-"

" _YOU_ again!" A shrill voice accused.

Ruby leapt into her sister's arms with a screech of shock. _"IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!"_

Weiss took another step closer, jabbing her finger at the cowering teen. "You nearly blew us off the cliff!"

Yang stood dumb-founded, still holding the trembling girl in her arms. After a few moments, the blonde stated in a slow, surprised voice, "Oh my God, you really did explode."


	3. Black Knight (Weiss) to H6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I am SO SORRY for this dying off. But I return with a new chapter! I recently rekindled my desire to work on this one (the chapters are also short, so that helps too.) and holy hell. I need to do more. This will be so awesome when I get to chapter five, where it starts to really detour from the RWBY series. It will keep trodding back to the source from time to time, but after a certain point, it gets really AU.
> 
> Cheers!

Blake felt overwhelmed by all of the smells that were assaulting her nose from all of the other students around her. It was almost painful for her to be around so many people in one room this close to a full moon, but there was nothing she could do about it. The students had various scents; one of coffee and rain, another of ice, one more of sun and warmth, and... one that smelled of pure sugar and fury? How strange. The ice had to be that Schnee girl again, Blake turning to face where the scent was coming from, completely ignoring the less than riveting speech Professor Ozpin was currently giving.

Golden hues roamed around the room, the scents still offending the werecat's delicate nose to a painful degree. Sure enough, there was Weiss and the red cloaked girl, but a tall blonde stood with them, igniting some distant feeling of deja vu within her. However the ending of the speech came about, cutting off her own musings to return her attention to the headmaster, listening to the blonde woman inform them that they will all be sleeping there for the night. Just what Blake needed; to be in a room filled with people when her senses were so sharp. Wonderful.

Weiss huffed angrily as she stormed off, already fuming about that red cloaked idiot being anywhere near her for now. It was the most irritating thing imaginable to have to deal with such a childish fool before the year had even begun, but it was also her reality. With an indignant huff, Weiss started to make herself as comfortable as possible in a far corner of the room. It was nigh impossible for her to change around this many people -let alone boys!-, and so she made her way to a bathroom to change into her night gown. This was going to be a nightmare of a night.

Ruby flopped onto her make-shift bed with a huff of exhaustion, silver hues slowly moving about the heavily occupied room. She clearly was the youngest one here, and her nerves about being regarded as anything other than a normal girl with normal knees were grating harshly on her once again. The entire thing was disheartening to her, but she had to give this thing a go or she would regret it forever.

"Cheer up, Ruby." The light voice of her sister broke through her thoughts. "Just think of this as one big sleep over!"

The she knew Yang was trying to put her mind at ease, but there was still that obligation to point out the obvious. "I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though."

Lilac eyes smoldered slightly as she surveyed the room like a hungry wolf, appraising each specimen like a piece of meat she could feast upon. "I know I do."

Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes. "You approve of anything that has half-naked people, sis."

Yang shrugged with a smirk. " _Pffft._ I just prefer not to exclude from my options is all. But," she deflected effectively. "Did you make any friends today?"

* * *

Blake hunkered in the corner she had procured with her book, her skin almost crawling with the overload of scents that were all but bashing her over her head with information. She was eager to complete initiation just so that she could either find out the designated area she would change in, or leave to find somewhere to change at the full moon. Ozpin had mentioned that there were several weres attending Beacon, so there must be a place that was safe for them to use, and a decent medical center for when it was the new moon.

However, her pensive thoughts were interrupted by the blonde teen dragging over the same girl that she had run into earlier. The scent of roses and the fiery summer sun filled her senses once more, old memories best left forgotten being stirred up by them. With the greatest of difficulty, Blake returned her golden gaze to the pages of her book, trying so desperately to ignore the duo as they halted merely three feet away.

"Helloooooo! I believe you two may know each other?"

The loud voice hurt her ears terribly, but she bit her tongue against the desire to rabidly claw at the blonde's face. Her attention, instead, shifted to the girl with black-scarlet hair. "Aren't you that girl that exploded?"

The girl seemed to perk up a bit, the smell of roses and cookies clearly coming from her. "Yeah! My name's Ruby."

As Ruby extended her hand, Blake returned her gaze to her book, shutting her out. Humans were dangerous. Humans were murderers. This Ruby would only turn on her the moment she knew what she was, just like any other human. It was better to be alone.

"But you could just call me crater..."

With a sigh Ruby's voice trailed off. She was fighting what had to be the most obstacle laden uphill battle known to mankind. Why was she so awkward? She really just wanted to be a normal girl, with normal knees. "Actually you could just call me Ruby." She whispered nervously.

"Okay." The raven haired teen stated blandly, still wrapped up in her book.

"What are you doing?" Yang hissed.

"I don't know, help me!" She shot back, floundering.

"So!" Yang started. "What's your name?"

The anti-social teen sighed, as if trying to carefully control herself or her temper. "Blake."

"Well Blake, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister."

Blake could feel her head throbbing, the noises and scents driving the animal inside of her up the walls. It wanted to be outside, free, roaming around like the predator it was. "That's nice."

"Nice night, don't ya think?"

"Yes. Almost as nice as this book."

They smiled at her dumbly.

"That I will continue reading."

More idiotic smiles. Did humans not understand the concept of introverts?

"As soon as you leave."

Yang grumbled softly as she turned to go; just what the hell was this girl's deal? They were just trying to be friendly.

"What's it about?" She heard Ruby inquire.

Blake's attention snapped up at the question, a half shocked expression painted across her features. It was as if she didn't know how to respond to someone asking a simple question about something she liked.

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

Yang had almost forgotten how much Ruby enjoyed reading. She had to admit that it did get her a bit to be so out of touch with her sister.

"Well... It's about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body." Blake understood the man all too well; everyday she had two sides of her speaking, thinking, fighting. Her human side, and her were side. On full moons, she would lose control to the were, and regain it come sunrise. It was both a release and a curse.

"I love books. Yang used to read to me before bed. It's kinda the reason why I wanted to become a huntress."

Blake quirked an eyebrow and smirked. "To live happily ever after?"

"Well, so hopefully we all can. I always wanted to fight for what was right, and help those who couldn't help themselves."

"That's very noble of you, but life isn't a fairy tale. Things don't always have a happy ending." The were insisted, her mind replaying the sounds of yowling, gunfire, and the sobbing of a child.

And still, Ruby smiled, shrugging. "Well, that's why we're here, right?"


	4. White Pawn to E3

"It's morning, it's morning, it's morning!"

Nora was all but rocketing around the room with joy, Ren not so much. It was early, and he was tired, and of course his longtime friend had a ton of energy. She was rambling on and on tirelessly about a million different things at once, all the while he was just trying to gather his things, pack them, and ready himself for initiation. And still she bounced around like a happy little tornado of productive chattering, packed and ready in the blink of an eye, devouring pancakes whole in a single slurp, and never once pausing to so much as breathe.

"Nora..." Ren finally interrupted.

Another pancake was swallowed up as if it was nothing but a pasta noodle. "Yes Ren?"

He compacted Storm Flower into his sleeves for hiding. "I don't think sloths make much noise."

That seemed to halt her for a fraction of a second before she beamed brighter. "That's why it's _PERFECT!_ "

She bouncily followed him about the corridor, magenta hues catching sight of a lanky blonde male, a tall redhead, and a tiny girl with pale skin as they left the locker room. Ren sighed as his childhood friend grinned stupidly, swaying from side to side before he cleared his mind to check her aura. Bubbly, soft pink. Good. Today was going well so far.

* * *

Yang stood atop the cliffs overlooking the lush forest, her sister beside her as the headmaster spoke about their initiation exercise. It seemed that Professor Ozpin was quite literally throwing them unprepared into an unknown location, to retrieve an obscure item from some arbitrary destination, based entirely on vague directions, and then fight their way out to survive. Then, and only then, would their training start.

Yang smirked cockily; this was her kind of initiation ceremony.

Off another student flew, then another, and other. The buxom blonde lowered her glasses and gave her sister a wink before hurtling off into the air, grinning madly at the rush. _'Now this is what I'm talking about!'_ She thought as Ruby joined her in flight, a boy yelling in uncertain terror somewhere behind her.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Glynda inquired tersely to her old friend.

Ozpin took a steady sip from his cup. "Glynda."

"Yes, Professor?"

"I just threw a group of highly untrained children to their possible deaths from the highest cliff I could find, armed with only guess work and weapons I can only hope they know how to use."

He took another sip, his expression unreadable.

"Don't ruin the moment for me, Glynda."

"Of course, Sir."

* * *

Jaune flailed uselessly as he cartwheeled through the air, screeching at the top of his lungs at all times. This being bad was a complete understatement, and honestly he felt ready to cry in frustration at his luck. Was this cosmic justice for faking transcripts? If so, the teen swore then and there that if he survived this day he would never forge another document as long as he lived. If this was what could happen, he was probably better off being inadequate at home.

A javelin catching his clothing and armor broke through his thoughts as his trajectory dramatically shifted, hurtling him backwards into a tree. As he thrunked into the wood harshly, Jaune realized just who had saved him in his free fall. "Thank you!" He shouted.

 _"Sorry!"_ He heard a faint female voice apologize from afar.

Well, at least Pyrrah was here to keep him out of too much trouble. Now, how to get down was his next struggle.

* * *

Blake landed gracefully in a tree, her nose instantly sniffing the air to get the scents floating around her. Several Grimm off to her left, that warm sunshine of Yang, the odd sugar and rage scent off with a boy who smelled of coffee and rain, and possibly a skunk. She would do best to avoid the skunk. Making a wide berth towards the Grimm, the young were caught the sounds of fighting and gunfire, hurrying closer swiftly as distant memories stirred at the smells.

_"Well girl, I think I'll call you Shroud."_

_"Did you get separated from your family too?"_

_"Mom would never kill a human!"_

_"See you next month!"_

_"Humans are mean, vicious creatures who will kill our kind as soon as look at us."_

_"No! Daddy, please no!"_

_"Kill the were brat!"_

_"Blake, run. Hurry, we have to hide."_

_"Stay away from Blake! Don't you dare touch her!"_

She bit her tongue as she ran, her senses filled with both past and present, trying to move around trees and clear her head at the same time.

_"We need you to scout these locations for the protest."_

_"Blake, we need you to be on guard at this protest. Humans are getting violent towards the young weres. Please, keep an eye out. Adam will be with you."_

_"I'm stepping down as leader. Try to keep doing so well for our cause. The younger ones look to you and Adam."_

_"Blake, we need you to scout this warehouse."_

_"Watch these humans for us."_

_"You're needed for this raid, Blake. Don't let us down."_

Blake stopped running, realizing she had been dashing aimlessly for several minutes as if a pack of weredogs were on her heels. Only it were her memories she tried to outpace, fleeing from endless regrets and painful truths. She held her head, trembling as her golden hues slid shut, trying to block out more.

Only it simply intensified from there.

_-Blake ran towards Adam, the mask she hated wearing slapping against her collar bones; she refused to don it and have her vision restricted to nearly nothing. Her partner's shouts grew louder as she all but slammed into the werebull, the duo both halting to steady each other._

_"Blake, you alright?" He questioned breathlessly._

_She nodded before they both tore off again after the raid leader's yelling for help. She had her weapon drawn, looking from side to side for humans that might attack them, finally happening upon the scene._

_Grant was towering over a human teenage boy, the cowering form covering his head in pure terror, trembling violently. The werelion snorted angrily, causing his target to curl in on himself more, letting out a loud sob of fear._

_Blake could feel her grip on her weapon loosen, staring at her leader in disbelief; this wasn't right. This human wasn't trying to hurt them! She had to stop this, now. "What are you doing? We did what we had to, so let him live so we can go." She urged, golden hues focused on the boy._

_Blue eyes full of tears looked at her from the shelter of arms, pleading for her to save him. The growl from the older male caused him to retreat again. "Blake, you don't give orders, I do." Grant snarled, his shotgun clacking loudly._

_"Please, please let's go." She begged him, feeling desperate. This wasn't what she joined the White Fang to do. They were supposed to be making things better, not proving they were monsters. In all the success from the violent tactics, she hadn't realized just how far they had fallen._

_"Blake. Kill the boy. He knows our faces."_

_"What?!_ No! _" She shouted, recoiling. "I won't. This isn't right!"_

_Adam snorted behind her. "Blake, do it."_

_She turned to look at her partner, horrified. "Adam... Don't you know what you're saying?"_

_Grant roared, clearly impatient. "Blake, I order you to kill this human scum. Humans murdered our families. Your family. Kill him, make it even."_

_Tears rolled down her cheeks, the werecat feeling ill as she looked from one mask covered face to the other. This was wrong. "Mother... Died saving a human..." She whimpered. "She died doing what was right... I won't kill him."_

_In the flash of an eye, Adam slid forward and removed Wilt from Blush to swiftly slash through the target, crimson blood spraying everywhere, quickly sheathing his blade. Blake stood stock-still as it splashed upon her clothes, her partner turning to face her, his mask smattered with red liquid, what little of his feature she could see cold and unfeeling._

_"_ That _is how you follow orders and take out a target." He chastised her cruelly._

_Blake stared at Adam in horror, her mouth shaking as she tried to look past that mask and at the face of her friend and partner. Of the boy she once knew._

_But all she could see was that damned cold mask of a Grimm.-_

Blake looked around, finding herself gasping for air in a different part of the forest than she last recalled, her skin covered in a freezing sweat. Where was she? The young girl had no idea, but she heard a voice shaking with rage only a few yards away to her left.

"You... _MONSTERS!_ "

Peering through the bushes, amber hues caught sight of the buxom blonde from the night before throwing enraged punches at a group of Ursa Majors, her eyes a burning crimson. Blake shuddered at the unbridled hate she saw in them, trying to brush away the memories of voices shouting the same words at her. And yet, she watched the motions curiously, sizing up the other girl to see if she would be an acceptable partner. From the ferocity to the stance, she had all that she was looking for in a partner, and so when it came down to the final Ursa, Blake threw Gambol Shroud into its back, killing the Grimm deftly.

The two girls stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Yang grinned cheekily at the brunette.

"I could've handled it."

* * *

_"THIS IS NOT THE RELIC! IT'S NOT!"_

Pyrrah didn't have time to look back as she ran from the Deathstalker, hearing Jaune screech in terror as he clung to the stinger. She didn't have much time to fight to protect him, but she would do all she could.

"Jaune! Don't let-" Pyrrah watched as the blond went flying of behind her, her voice sinking as she realized the beast was bearing down on her, and she was all alone. "Go..."

Taking a few steps back, she knew that running was the only course of action if she intended to survive the Beacon initiation.

* * *

"Ruby!"

"Yang!"

_"NORA!"_

Weiss was getting more and more frustrated, watching the ensuing danger mount by the second. If it hadn't been bad enough that she had the bumbling klutz as her partner, now she had to watch Pyrrah be thrown at her feet by the Deathstalker, clearly exhausted.

"Great! The gang's all here. Now we can all die together!" Yang quipped in a mock cheerful tone.

"No, we don't." Ruby stated, looking calm and somehow nervous. "All we need to do is grab a relic and then return to Professor Ozpin, right?"

Jaune nodded heartily. "Run and live. That's a plan I can get behind."

They didn't have to fight, just make it back. They could manage that.

* * *

"And finally," Ozpin looked at the last team happily. "Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, and Weiss Schnee. You will be henceforth known as; Team RWBY. Lead by, Ruby Rose."

Glynda took note of Weiss' look of stunned displeasure, Ruby's surprise, Yang's joy, and a very subtle ghost of a smile on Blake's lips. She could recall as if it was moments ago her own team standing were they were, being in the same position Ruby was. It was no small task being leader, and she hadn't been as young as the one standing before her now. But she could still remember the pressure of being in charge of their safety, of being responsible for three students she had only just met. Still feel Lionel's hand on her shoulder, hear Arthur's hearty laugh, see Zarina's winning grin.

Glynda shook her head as the last team left to clear her mind, walking up to Blake quietly; obviously she couldn't sneak up on a were the day before a full moon. "Miss Belladonna, please follow me." She prompted, the student halting as the room emptied. "I'll take you to meet the other weres and assign you a mentor. Then I will show you where you and the others go to change."

Blake frowned. "I know how to change."

Glynda nodded once. "We know, however the buddy system is for more of if you have questions about life here, the Forever Fall on full moons, or just to know another were. Also makes finding your bags a lot easier in the morning to get dressed."

The were thought it over for a moment before nodding, walking beside the very stern seeming woman towards the door they had come through to the outside.

"Beacon is proud to accept weres, and honestly I enjoy helping to ensure the safety of my students during a change." She confided in an off-handed tone. "Feel free to come to me with any questions if you have them. I am the head of the team that watches the Forever Fall when you change."

"But Professor Ozpin said the Forever Fall was off-limits at nights."

"To make it consistent. It makes it safer for all of you if the students are banned every night, rather than just full moons. They would know in a heartbeat, and that could be dangerous."

Gold eyes watched emerald carefully. "Are you a were too?"

Glynda shook her head. "No, but when I was young, I had a best friend who was a weretiger."

"What happened to him?"

Verdant hues darkened in pain and hate. "Others found out. And... He didn't survive the encounter."

Blake fell silent as they walked on towards the forest filled with red and orange leaves, looking around as voices grew closer. Finally, a group of no more than fifteen students sat in the middle of a clearing, turning and grinning at the new arrival.

"Alright. This year we only had one new were join us." Glynda informed them. "This is Blake Belladonna, a werecat."

A timid girl with long brown hair, bowed her head sheepishly. "I-I'm Velvet. A wererabbit. Second year."

A boy with messy blue hair and cocky green eyes gave her a salute. "Dylan here. Werefalcon. Second year."

"I'm Salma. I'm a werebear. Third year. Nice to meet you, Blake."

"Kara, werebadger, fourth year."

The students introduced themselves to their newest addition, Blake nodding to each in turn. Glynda was quickly trying to see who would be best to mentor their newest addition. Perhaps the stoic teen would do Velvet some good.

"Velvet," The girl sat bolt upright. "I'm assigning you as Blake's mentor."

"But... I'm only a s-second year..."

"Yes, and I think you will do just fine. Blake, go over to the others."

After her newest addition sat next to her very nervous looking mentor, the woman took a deep breath in. "As all of you know, I am your advisor. Blake, just because you are in my care doesn't mean you will get any sort of break from me. In fact, it means I will be expecting even more from you than the other students. Tomorrow night you will report here at six at night with a bag containing either a change of clothes, or I will give you a robe and you will be taking your clothes off. This will keep anything like last year from happening."

Kara pouted. "Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"You ran through the halls naked."

"Yeah, well... They got breakfast _and_ a show." She jeered almost proudly.

Glynda rolled her eyes and fixed her glasses. "The bags will be watched by myself and the rest of the staff who monitor the forest on full moons. If you are unable to return to your clothes before you change back, just wait a few moments and someone will probably be coming with it."

Dylan leaned close to Blake to mutter, "No, seriously. They will find you and have your clothes with them. It's creepy."

"Please remember that while we guard the Forever Fall while you roam it as weres, you are required to not divulge anything about this group to anyone not a member."

"So, you monitor us like guards. Like we're dangerous. You protect the others from us." Blake blandly commented.

"No, Miss Belladonna. We protect you. Because while some students might not care you are weres, there are many others who would see you as nothing more than Grimm among them, and hunt you down as such." She looked at her firmly. "We protect you from them, _not_ the other way around."


	5. Black Pawn to B5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, I am happy to get this fic back up and running. The chapters are obviously not going to be every other month anymore. They will happen whenever. I have over ninety chapters left for this one, and I am really glad I planned out many large events in advance. So, I hope all y'all enjoy!
> 
> Warning: Contains plot. Deal with it.
> 
> With love,  
> Korrupted.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY, nor the characters, I only own the OCs.

"There you are!" Ruby squealed as Blake entered the room. "I thought a Grimm had eaten you."

"There are no Grimm here. It's an academy full of huntsmen and huntswomen. Dolt." Weiss chastised.

Blake simply blinked and decided to make things a bit easier for the next night. "Professor Goodwitch needs me tomorrow night. I don't know when I will be back, but I am leaving quarter to six."

Yang perked up. "Just you? You mean not with your partner too?"

"No. Just me."

"Awwww, but that's no fair!" Yang drawled piteously.

Ruby hugged her disappointed sister with a great grin. "But we can totally catch up tomorrow while she's gone!"

A nod and a smirk greeted the smaller girl. "That sounds pretty good, to be honest."

All eyes turned to the four beds that took up the bulk of the room, Ruby touching her mouth in thought. "Hmmm... There isn't much space here... I know! What about bunk beds?"

Yang cheered, Blake thinking it over a bit. "Well, it would be practical."

Weiss, however, was unmoved. "No! It's unsafe! I forbid it."

"All in favor?"

After a quick vote, the girls somehow managed to create bunk beds using books, rope, and absolutely no regard for physics or personal safety.

"Perfect!" Ruby cried in joy.

The girls were rather worn from the initiation, and the start of their first lessons were-

"Oh no..." Weiss groaned. "We're going to be late!"

They scrambled to change, bolting to various area to dress in relative privacy before scampering out the door. Blake couldn't help but enjoy the running; it stretched her sore legs, the cramping in them the sensation of being trapped in a bodysuit far too small as the need to succumb to the change grew. Tomorrow night couldn't come any faster for her.

* * *

Coco brushed Velvet's hair tenderly with her hand as she helped the were pack. She had always known her partner wasn't human, and it had never mattered to her anyways. "Don't forget your comfy socks, Velves." She insisted, holding up a pair of fluffy socks emblazoned with bunnies bouncing all over them.

Velvet took them with a smile, looking at the clock to see the time. Five thirty. She should go see to Blake before they went to Forever Fall to change.

"Watch the boys for me?"

Coco laughed. "You know I will. Our boyfriends won't be up to any trouble tonight. I promise."

Velvet giggled, then kissed her team leader tenderly. Once she pulled back, she sheepishly nuzzled Coco's cheek. "I love you. All three of you."

"And we all love you."

Just as Velvet shouldered her bag, she felt Coco's hand on her back. "Why don't you tell them, Velves? Hashi and Fox would still adore you. You know that."

She watched her girlfriend's shoulders sag as she sighed, smiling back at the dual haired teen. "Coco, it doesn't _work_ that way, love. You know that I could still get lynched. It's so bloody hard for us weres."

Coco wrapped her arms around the shorter huntress. "They would protect you. We all would." She nuzzled her jawline. "We _love_ you, Velvet. Don't underestimate that."

"I know, love. I have to go, now. Kiss Fox and Hashi for me, will you?"

She felt a firm smack on her rear, blushing at the wink from above lowered sunglasses. "Oh, I'll give them more than a _kiss_ , Velves. Stay safe out there."

With a blushing wave, the rabbit were hurried off to locate the girl she was to mentor. Maybe she would tell her boyfriends at some point. Perhaps Coco was right, just like always.

* * *

Blake shouldered her bag higher as both she and her mentor walked through the forest, noting Oobleck and a few other staff patrolling in the fading sunlight. They grinned at the students, but the moment they went back to looking around, their eyes were cold and watchful.

"Blake, Velvet. Good to see you both." Glynda greeted. "You can either change together as you are both girls, or find separate areas."

"I-I don't mind changing where Blake is." Velvet stammered.

Blake smirked in what she hoped was in a comforting way. "That's fine. I've changed in groups before, anyways. We can stay together."

As the sun sank lower, Blake and Velvet dropped their bags onto the ground and began to remove their clothes in preparation. Blake could smell her mentor's heart pounding, how the darkness was getting under their skin already, and the freedom that the change offered almost upon them.

Both of them sat across from the other, naked and waiting for the first caress of moonlight from the full moon to turn them into animals, to free them from their human forms.

"Hey, Kara! Looking good!" Dylan called from somewhere in the trees. "OW! That was rude, yo!"

"Oops. Didn't see you there, D!"

"OW!"

"Or there."

" _OW!_ What's _wrong_ with you?!"

"Or there."

"Yeah, well those rocks would suggest otherwise, you bitch!"

Velvet giggled. "You'll get used to this lot acting like plonkers."

Blake grinned as more laughter from the other weres around Forever Fall hit her ears. "Perhaps."

The moon finally began to peek through the darkened sky, the light touching the teens as the change hit.

Blake jerked, her body doubled over at the familiar agony of her bones growing and shifting. The pain grew as her form twisted, fangs sprouting from her mouth, black fur erupting in patches on her skin as her size grew. Her hands contorted, claws growing from nails, her spine stretching, her voice half bestial as she cried out. She could hear Velvet whimpering nearby, looking up as the girl balled herself in a tight ball, crying as she shifted into a rabbit, brown fur on her form. Blake was almost willing to tear at her own skin to change faster, to shed the small body for the one that needed to run free.

By the time that her body had halted its violent transformation, Blake was on her paws, panting harshly to try to regain her breath. She had grown far more accustomed to the pain through the years, but each full moon still hurt beyond compare.

Her eyes settled on a large brown rabbit opposite her, the creature shaking from pain and fear as it looked at her. Poor Velvet probably was worried that she would be on tonight's dinner menu. Blake padded over, a deep purr rumbling in her chest as she began to run her rough tongue through the fur of the smaller were.

"Blake, th-that feels so bloody weird." Velvet nervously giggled.

A large grizzly bear walked over, blinking at them. "Okay, I want the snuggle pile here tonight." Salma stated.

Awkwardly, Dylan hopped on his claws over. "Dibs on top. My wings don't like being smushed."

The rest of the students seemed to split off to sit near a staff member they liked, or debate where they wanted to be in the were creature cuddle collective. Blake tucked her paws under her, watching from beside Velvet, until her mentor hopped over to flop near the top, Dylan gently perched atop her.

The staff chuckled and watched with smiles as the group got comfortable, and for the first time, Blake dared to hope humans could truly be their friends.

* * *

"Ohhhh, how dare she go off on a special assignment!" Weiss fumed, stomping back and forth. "We should be there too!"

Ruby sat on her bed, holding her pillow to her chest. "Maybe we'll go next time."

Yang shrugged absently. "Maybe she's out hunting Grimm."

Blue eyes narrowed. "Ggrrrrr... I _hate_ that she was picked. Why couldn't we go?!"

Part of Weiss wondered if Blake was hunting weres, and if so, why they had picked Blake over her. She had far more reason to protect people from those savage animals than Blake did! She would make them suffer horribly.

_"Daddy, no!"_

The distant memory made her shudder, changing into her night gown angrily. Blake could be fighting Grimm, or weres, and she just hoped that her teammate came home safe.

Yang placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "It's okay. Just chill. Maybe next time we all can go."

"I just _hate_ those were monsters." She admitted. "I'm going to protect everyone from them and the Grimm."

* * *

Blake watched as the pile of napping weres slowly began to untangle themselves in preparation for the change back, finding that she felt more comfortable in the company of her fellow weres than humans. Perhaps it's because they reminded her of how the White Fang used to be. Or maybe because it was hard to be completely aloof when there was a pile of furry, scaly, and feathery bodies only five yards away taking a nap.

Velvet bounded over, binky-ing twice before laughing. "Oh, I love the pile! You should try it!"

Blake chuckled, cleaning her large paw. "I'll pass for now."

The group dispersed to locate their bags as dawn approached, Blake and her mentor patiently waiting by their clothes. When the first rays of down touched the land, the pain began anew, bones shifting, shrinking, fur melting into skin.

Blake and Velvet were shaking and whimpering in pain as they lay naked on the dirty ground, trying to work up the ability to move their sore limbs. Slowly, they pulled on clothes, moving to regroup in front of the staff for a head count.

"And everyone is here." Glynda stated calmly. "Right, so off you all go for breakfast. The new moon is in seventeen days. Velvet, make sure you show Blake where the medical center is. When the moon sickness starts, be sure to ask for the next week of assignments in advance. Please do not forget to tell one of us if you need to go to the nurse early. Dismissed."

The students walked off in relative silence, the fog from the change making them groggy and anti-social. Blake felt better in her human body again, like she was no longer too big for her own skin, or was itching to be free. Her senses were dulled again in comparison, though still far sharper than a human. She was glad to feel 'normal' again. It would make blending into her team that much easier.


	6. White Knight (Junior) to E2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again! After being absolutely WRECKED by season three of RWBY, I have many new ideas for this fic. Some you will like, others you will all likely hate my very soul for. I will not be very active at all come next month as I will be going back to England to see my two beautiful partners for the entire month, but I will try to write while I am away. No promises though.
> 
> WARNING: This contains plot, Moon Sickness (the effects a New Moon has on Were Creatures), and... character intros? Woot? Pretty fucking tame.
> 
> With love,  
> Korrupted.
> 
> SHOUT OUTS:
> 
> Ann E. Casap: Thank you! I really wanted to showcase the pain that went with their bodies changing so drastically, and with that came a ton of details. It also means that it really sucks for them to change if that's what they go through. Thank you for reading and enjoying the fic!
> 
> LadyKatAstrid: *squees* THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I'm really glad that this has picked up fans slowly but surely. I will not abandon this one as it really is my big fanfiction piece. I literally planned out every move on a chess board, so I REALLY need to see this thing through. There will be lots of characters from the show, and even some new ones who I felt would enhance the world of Remnant that Monty has given us. I really hope you continue to enjoy this as much as you have.
> 
> That one Guest who said he was leaving because poly relationships are "fucking creepy": In the immortal words of Genie from Aladdin; "Good-bye! Good-bye now! Bye bye! Take care! Good-bye now!". Pretty much just watch the clip of him being a stewardess after busting out of the cave over and over again. If it bothers you that much, I can be very certain in saying, that I won't miss your follow or favorite.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RWBY. Seriously, I don't.

Emerald rolled her eyes at Mercury as he leafed through the comic book a third time. Really, why did she have to get stuck with him? Everything had been fine before he had come along to ruin it. She didn't like him at all, but if Cinder wanted them to be a team, then she would shut up and deal with it.

They sauntered into a bar, making a direct path to the bartender as Mercury smirked cockily. "Hey, we finished it for you."

Junior looked up from the cup he was cleaning questioningly. "Is that so?"

Emerald took notice of his watch, internally admiring it. "Yeah. He won't be going anywhere. Thanks for the tip, Junior." She activated her semblance, stepping around the illusion of herself.

Junior smirked in a way that made her skin crawl. "For you, any time." His eyes looked her up and down. "And, I bet I could help you with a lot of things, _any time_ , my dear Gem."

"It's Emerald, and I really need to be going." The illusion of her stated as she swiftly took the watch from his wrist. "We'll be back if we need anything in the way of information."

She, the manipulation, and Mercury all left before she cut the link into Junior's mind, shuddering. "Ugh. I really don't like him."

"Hey, if it gets us information, we do what we gotta do." Mercury told her, throwing the comic onto the road idly. "Let's get back to Roman and Cinder."

* * *

Blake and Yang sat quietly with Weiss, Ruby pilfering the kitchens for snacks. While engrossed with her book, her stomach was turning terribly, her muscles dully aching, though she would not allow her discomfort to show. There were six days until the new moon, and several of her fellow weres already were bed ridden in the medical center.

Why did she want to vomit so badly already? Ruby and Pyrrha were both annoyingly concerned about Jaune, and she was doing all she could to help, but already, the room was starting to wobble horribly.

"Blake?" She heard the distant voice of Ruby ask. "You okay? You look... Kinda green."

She had no idea when Ruby had come back, but all Blake could do was grunt dumbly, her amber orbs glazed over in a nearly feverish manner. She had to fight this illness, no matter how futile it was. No one could know. No one could know what she was, or she would surely be hated. "I'm... _fine._ " She asserted, instantly wishing that speaking didn't make it worse.

Yang frowned at her deeply, walking closer. "Blake, you're not. Look, just come with me to the-"

 _"I SAID I'M FINE!"_ Blake snarled, though her stomach tried to make her wretch.

"Hey, what is your deal?!" Weiss instantly stated coldly, glaring sharply at her. "She's just concerned about you!"

"I can look after myself." The room was spinning. Maybe she should go to the infirmary.

"Blake, please let us take you to the infirmary?" Ruby pleaded, her silver hues worried.

Blake was about to protest, but a round of vomiting started, forcing her to heave into the trash bin. She felt someone holding her hair back as she shook, her ears roaring loudly. Her whole body shook as she dry heaved a few more times, slowly registering Ruby wrapping her right arm around her waist, bracing her.

"Sorry, Blake, but you're going to the nurse." The younger girl stated firmly.

With no room or willpower to object, Blake found herself half walked, half carried down the hall.

"Yuh-you'll get s-sick..." Blake lied piteously. Ruby couldn't know the truth. It was too dangerous.

"Well, then save me the bed next to you, okay? I'll bring a few books down later."

Blake couldn't keep arguing, and so she just groaned as they passed a group of other first years, Cardin among them.

"But I'm telling you, if I ever see a were, I'm killing it, skinning it, and keeping the pelt as a trophy."

Blake felt her stomach rebel, however, she turned her head, allowing the vomit to hit Cardin's left leg and foot.

"S-s-sorry... Sick... Real sick." She ground out, watching the boys disperse with looks of disgust and casual concern for their own health.

"Well, he kinda deserved that..." Ruby whispered as they continued on their trek. "I don't understand why some people hate weres so much."

Blake cautiously glanced at Ruby, trying to gauge her expression through the dizziness. No, it wasn't safe to tell her. And even if she could, there was Weiss to be wary of. She had to be sure before she could risk her own safety like that.

* * *

Cinder stroked Emerald's cheek as she listened to the young thief explain things to her. It was so very easy to confirm that she was in control of both of her pets; or at least Mercury listened to her without hesitation. At times, it seemed that Emerald wavered in her loyalty to her, in her desire to obey.

"Mercury?" She crooned, feeling the girl tense her jaw under her hand. So predictable. "Be a good boy and make sure Roman is keeping everything in order on his end. We can't have him bring everything down around our ears, now can we?"

"Of course." He replied before heading off. He really was such a good pawn.

Her attention turned to Emerald as she caressed her cheek with a smile. She had to keep this one in line, and she knew exactly how to do that. Just like she kept Roman a very attentive listener.

"I don't understand why he's here. He just... I don't like him. Something about him is just _wrong._ "

Cinder hushed Emerald with a soft, slow, tender kiss. She could feel her melting into her touch, her face growing warmer with a blush as Cinder leaned back. "Don't worry about him, my dear. Focus on us." She traced one hand down Emerald's collar bones, lightly scratching her to raise goosebumps along her beautiful brown skin. "Focus on just me."

Cinder could feel Emerald's body relax as she smoothly stood, her golden eyes sultry as she spoke in a silky whisper, tugging Emerald to her unsteady feet. "That's a good girl. Come with me to bed."

"But... I h-have to check on th- _Nnnn~!"_ Her words ended in a high pitched whimper of pleasure as Cinder suckled on her earlobe, the hand cradling her lower back holding her trembling body flush against Cinder's.

"When I tell you to come with me to bed," Cinder huskily whispered, kissing down Emerald's jawline, knowing that she was putty in her hands. "Don't think; obey."

* * *

Blake was curled up on the hospital bed, sweating, shaking, and going from scalding hot to freezing cold. The nurse and Glynda had managed to find thin cotton shirts and shorts for all of the were students to put on, and according to the groaning whimpers around her, they were in similar states as her. Her body hurt from the shivers and moon sickness, her throat raw from the vomiting. Velvet was crying rather piteously on her own bed opposite of Blake's, and it made her heart break. Her poor mentor was so soft and shy, she couldn't let her suffer alone.

Shakily, Blake forced herself to her feet, the room spinning horribly as everything hurt even worse than before. Her legs threatened to buckle from the strain, the cold sweating starting again in earnest, but she refused to let her resolve waiver one inch. Taking hold of her I.V stand, she painfully stumbled the scant three yards to Velvet's bed, and climbed in behind her, holding her with trembling arms as the agony of the new moon continued to wash over them.

To Blake's surprise, she noticed that Salma and Dylan were already sharing a bed, clearly not the only one trying to comfort a fellow were.

"B-b-b-bl-la-ak-ke?" Velvet chattered out through her shivers.

"H-h-h-h-here. Shhhh... It's-s-s ok-kay. J-just one m-more d-d-d-day."

* * *

Ruby was more than ecstatic that Blake was back, though she did look incredibly drawn. She and Yang had spent a week buying books for her to read when she was better; she was still a bit annoyed that she hadn't been allowed to see her while she was in the infirmary.

"And we can go to the city, and look at books! Or we can go to the park! Or-"

 _"Or,"_ Weiss interjected, "we can work on that assignment that is coming up for Professor Port."

Ruby seemed to almost literally deflate at the idea of doing school work when Blake had only just come back from being so ill. She had been really worried about her.

"Actually, I did my work already. So, I guess a trip around town couldn't hurt. I just don't want to overdo it."

Blake did feel a bit weak still, but that was to be expected from the moon sickness. Some days she wished that she had been born a human just to keep from having to live with the agony of the full and new moons.

"Alright then." Yang was beaming, nudging Weiss with her elbow. "Clothes shopping it is! Gonna give you a new look, Blake!"

"Nothing too revealing, please." Blake sighed, but followed her teammates with a small smile. They were so good to her, so caring.

But she knew all that would all change the very moment they ever found out just what she really was.


	7. Black Pawn to E6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I AM SO SO SO SORRY! This had been ready for upload for weeks, but I had forgotten to do it after I had emailed it to myself. (Fun fact, all of my fanfics are typed on my 5 year old phone and then emailed to myself for uploading.) I am already working on the next chapter, as well as several other fics at once while prancing around insane hours of work and Guild Wars 2. I hope you all like it, and I am once again so sorry for this being so late.
> 
> WARNING: CHILD DEATH. BE AWARE.
> 
> With love.  
> Korrupted.
> 
> Shout outs:
> 
> Skylar Datenshi: I'm glad you are enjoying this so far! I hope you keep enjoying this, and that you are having an awesome day wherever you are!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. Never have, and never will. I do own the OC's, but other than that, it belongs to rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. Always keep going forwards.

Ruby watched nervously as Cardin and Pyrrha dueled in Glynda's class, hearing Weiss cheering on the ginger loudly beside her. As much as he could be a jerk, no one could deny that he was strong and dangerous with his mace. As the head of the weapon shattered part of the floor beside his agile foe, even Blake and Yang were getting antsy in their seats.

However, Pyrrha was cool, calm, and collected as she rolled to the side, hitting Cardin against the side of his head with her shield as she righted herself. All at once, she was utterly on the offensive, hitting him over and over again until at long last, Cardin dropped to his knee in defeat.

"Pyrrha Nikos wins again." Glynda stated in a bland voice. "Now, Mr. Winchester, if you are quite done, you should see the nurse."

Cardin ground his teeth before standing, smashing his mace into floor in his anger. However, Dove, Lark, and Russel dashed over with grins on their faces.

"There's a were in town! They cornered the animal, Cardin!" Lark sneered.

Cardin smirked, nodding. "Let's kill us a were!"

Quickly, the four raced out, only making it down one hall before running into Professor Ozpin.

"If you are thinking about joining that mob, think again." Ozpin coolly informed them, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Aww, c'mon." Dove groaned.

Ozpin's eyes narrowed. "If _any_ of my students ever join such a foolish act such as a lynch mob, the _entire_ team will be expelled."

Cardin snarled openly at the headmaster. "You can't do that!"

"Are you really willing to bet that?"

As quickly as he had come, Ozpin walked away, leaving the four boys behind. "We can still go." Lark hissed. "He'll never know."

"No." Cardin grunted. He wasn't throwing his future away on a filthy beast. "We're not going."

Dove whipped around to look at him. "Are you serious?! He can't do that. Let's go."

Cardin grabbed Dove by his shirt, yanking him close. "I said, we are not going." He growled in a dangerous tone.

Grumbling but afraid enough to relent, the other three made their way back to their class. It was angering that they couldn't kill that monster, but they had a future to prepare for.

* * *

Coco watched Yatsuhashi shove through the knot of a crowd, Velvet remaining with Fox behind her. They had been called in to break up the mob and save the exposed were, a task that was generally left to the staff of Beacon; Glynda was aware of team CFVY being accepting of weres, and had advocated for them to be a first response team. However, it had taken many previous minutes to shove their way this close, and those were minutes that could be the difference between life and death for the endangered person.

Finally, Yatsuhashi stood, kicking some of the lynchers ruthlessly away as he headed back to his team leader, his head shaking sadly. They had been too late again.

Coco felt her heart break slightly as the blood thirsty mob scurried away in satisfaction, hitting one in the face with her combat tote to knock him out. Not only did it help her vent, but they could interrogate him later. She could hear Velvet crying, Fox trying to console her delicately as their friend knelt down to show who they had tried to save.

A young girl, possibly as old as ten was laying bloody and limp in his arms, bullet holes and bruises marring her body. However, it was the tiny patches of soft brown fur and the mouse tail that truly caught their eye. How could she be partially changed in the middle of the day? And the next full moon wasn't for another eight days!

"Let's take her to Ozpin. He needs to see this." Yatsuhashi stated, trying to wipe away some of the blood from the dead child.

Coco nodded, though was deeply troubled by the half-changed were. What in Remnant had caused her to partially change in broad daylight? And how could they keep Velvet safe from this ever growing trend of were lynchings?

* * *

Velvet walked down the hall, seeing Cardin and his team of bullies heading towards her quickly. She swiftly turned back and tried to avoid them, ultimately being cornered by the quartet. "M-may I help you?" She stammered, still emotionally frazzled from the were incident a mere two hours ago.

"Heard you went to break up the lynching." Dove drawled. "What did that monster do? What did it look like?"

Velvet felt her heart hammering wildly, trying to figure out what direction to bolt in. "P-people were everywhere. Hashi and Coco tried to break up the mob."

Lark rolled his eyes, knocking on the side of her head sharply. "The monster was killed, right? We want to know what it looked like, not if you could get there fast."

Tears slid down Velvet's cheeks as she nodded, the boys chuckling in sadistic glee. "W-we tried to help, b-but we got th-th-there too late..."

"I _highly_ suggest you all get away from her." A firm female voice demanded.

All eyes turned towards a visibly seething Coco, Russel sneering openly. "Four against one is hardly a fair match."

Coco lowered her glasses smirking back coldly. "I know, so I'll be sure to take it easy on you."

Dove rushed over only to have the combat tote knock him clear across the hall as the older huntress stalked closer, both Lark and Russel bolting.

Velvet dashed towards her girlfriend, receiving a quick kiss on her cheek before continuing towards their dorm.

Cardin looked at her indignantly. "We just were asking about that creature you saw."

Coco halted three steps away. "So you cornered her, and bullied her into the wall? Such a big, strong man you must be."

"So what? One less of those damn were beasts anyways."

"We don't go into those lynches for your amusement. We are trying to save lives."

"Those _things_ are animals!" He shouted at her.

In the blink of an eye, Coco grabbed hold of his armor, slammed Cardin into the floor, and punched him in the face. "They are _forced_ to change under a full moon. They can't stop the change! Every damn full moon they turn into animals because of their DNA. Every full moon, they become these 'monsters', as you call them." She stepped back, glaring down at him as she shook in rage. "So what's _your_ excuse for being an animal?"

Coco left him to hold his sore jaw as she took a few more steps back, shaking her head. "And it was a little girl. She was barely nine. The mob murdered a nine year old girl, because she turns into a brown field mouse under a full moon."

Cardin watched the second year walk away in silence, his hand still holding his jaw. As he stood, he looked back down the hall she had left through, his brow furrowed in thought as he roughly hauled his teammate up to half drag him to the dorm. Weres were supposed to be adults who turned into terrible monsters. They were supposed to be cruel wolf packs that hunted humans. They were supposed to deserve the mobs. They weren't suppose to be children who changed into mice. They weren't supposed to be little girls, who had been hunted down for no reason.

Were creatures weren't supposed to remind him of normal humans.

* * *

Cinder watched Emerald sleep in her arms, the dark skinned youth peaceful in the wake of their activities. It was almost laughable how easily she was placated with the illusion of love, how the absurd notion that the older woman cared for her made her more pliable. At least Roman knew that the sex was part of their business partnership; Emerald was fool enough to fall for the lie.

Mercury carefully walked in, looking between the two women before settling on Cinder. "The Vital Festival would be too risky to attack during. Roman says after would do best."

Cinder smiled coyly, nodding as she stroked Emerald's back with her nails gently. "Then so be it. You've been a very busy bee, Mercury. Why don't you go ahead and rest?"

Mercury nodded and left, letting Cinder mull over the news silently. This could prove to be easier than she had anticipated. As long as Emerald was a good pawn, and Mercury proved to be as loyal as he seemed, Remnant would be theirs.


	8. White Knight (Junior) to D4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey! All y'all might have noticed that I have started labeling who the moving key pieces are. I think it would be easier to see who is moving or taking pieces/people for everyone, and also for anyone who may choose to play this out on a chess board to move the right pieces. I am really pleased with how this one is now really taking off in my mind to write, and I am already working on the next chapter.
> 
> WARNING: Rape/torture implied. Because Junior was really creepy to me in the Yellow trailer, and a total pedobear. As for the rest, only drama.
> 
> With love,  
> Korrupted.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY. Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum own it. I only own the OCs.

Ruby happily walked down the hall towards JNPR's dorm, whistling a chipper tune. It was a nice day, classes were over, and they were supposed to hang out with their friends for a while. They didn't even have homework! Her joy was as boundless as her energy, knocking a jaunty melody into the door. In hindsight, the large soot blackened mark on the wall behind her with a vaguely person shaped clean spot should have warned her that something was wrong. As the door started to be unlocked, she grinned even more childishly.

Only to have the business end of Magnhild's gun form leveled at her the very moment it opened.

"Name five cereals." Nora hissed, her teal eyes narrowed dangerously.

Ruby could only stare in slack-jawed shock at the gun, her mind sadly void of any cereals.

"Name them!" Nora repeated, a grenade dropping into the firing chamber.

"Tasty Flakes, Cocoa Lumps, Toasty Grimm Puffs, Sweet Sugar Corn Flake Bombs, and Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes!" She squealed desperately.

For several seconds, Nora seemed to glare at her as she mulled over the answers, the gun dropping the round away as she grinned up happily. "You may enter~!"

Ruby tiptoed into the room when Nora stepped back to grant entry, seeing a soot-streaked and glowering Weiss sitting on Ren's bed; clearly, she hadn't named five cereals. Yang fussed over the smaller girl, Pyrrha sitting on the bed across from Jaune rather awkwardly. After another few moments, she spotted Blake standing by the open window, as if being too near everyone else was intensely anxiety inducing. It had been getting worse for the last three days, but Blake assured her that she had these issues once a month, and she shouldn't take it personally; her cycle must be consistently terrible for her to always be like this when it happened.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Ruby inquired, watching Nora skip around, humming a chipper melody.

"Well, we could go to the library." Blake muttered in disinterest.

"Maybe into town? I'd like to see some of the boutiques." Weiss supplied.

"Comics?" Jaune added.

"Oh! Oh!" Nora called out, ignoring how Blake flinched at her volume level. "Let's get pancakes!"

Pyrrha seemed to tilt her head in thought. "Why don't we go as teams to different places, then meet up at the diner for lunch?"

"But, what about the people coming out for the Vytal Festival?" Ren asked. "Things might be busier with the other students coming in."

"Then we can _spy_ on them!" Nora grinned. "Secret agents for Beacon Academy!"

"It's settled then!" Ruby smiled. "Let's hit the town!"

As the gaggle marched out of the room, Ren took a moment to check Nora's aura; bubbly pink with slight flares of volatile red. He should keep close, maybe get her an ice cream soon to help soothe her. The cereal game had been too much of a sign for him to ignore.

* * *

Junior grinned down savagely at the four girls on his bed; but mostly at the battered and bruised duo that were huddled together away from Milita and Melanie. It had been so nice that Roman had thrown there two were girls his way for interrogation, and he had enjoyed every minute of it; as had the twins after he had called them in. But they had out lived their use for information, and probably out lived their use for his pleasure too.

He buckled up his trousers as he gave the twins soft kisses on the cheeks, and the captives rough, violating kisses on the lips. He could feel them recoil weakly before he righted himself, the large man scratching his bare, sparsely haired chest as he stopped the camera recording from the tripod, then out to make breakfast. He would leave their fate to Milita and Melanie, he decided as he lit up a cigarette. _'Maybe Roman will find me another job this week.'_ He mused as he pulled out his scroll and dialed Roman's number, taking a long drag.

"Yeah, it's Junior. They told me where a pack was staying until the full moon."

"You sure they're being honest?" He heard his current employer question.

"Trust me." Junior scoffed. "They'd tell me where they buried their own family at this point. They always break for me, Roman. Always."

* * *

Weiss sighed happily as she purchased them all drinks, watching as Yang slurped her root beer float. It was mildly disturbing how both their fearless leader and her sister seemed to consume the drinks like they were nothing. At least Blake nursed hers, even if she had insisted on sniffing each flavor slightly before making a final choice.

"Oohhhhh, brainfreeeeeze!" Ruby whimpered for no less than the tenth time, holding her head.

Weiss scoffed as they moved towards the docks, Yang patting her sister's head kindly. It was a warm, lovely day, and many people from other regions had already passed them, the heiress not hesitating on sizing them up.

 _"Hey!"_ A ship hand shouted from a pier. "You damn stowaway!"

A blond teen was swinging upside-down on a lamp post via his knees, eating a banana almost mockingly at the disgruntled men. "That's the greatest stowaway to you, losers!"

The two workers grunted and went back to their tasks as the boy looked at the four girls that stared at him in clear confusion and shock, but one in particular caught his eye. "Ooh, ooh, ohhhhh." He keened, swinging to grab hold of a closer lamp pole. "Heya cutie."

Blake stared at him in mild worry, sniffing the unmistakable odor of a weremonkey on him before her own heightened nature got the better of her at his words. She growled low in her throat moments before she hissed at him, visibly bristling. He backed up with a nervous grin on his lips, looking over his shoulder to see police rushing towards him.

"Eeee!" He shrieked, clearly not hiding that he was part primate. "Sorry for just swinging by, but gotta go!" He rushed, moving quickly.

"What an animal!" Weiss sneered.

"Ya know..." Yang drawled. "He had weapons on him, so he might be here for the tournament."

"What?!" That seemed to catch her attention. "After that mongrel!"

Before anyone could stop her, Weiss took off full tilt after the boy, the others trying to keep up with her; while Blake had no trouble due to the ever encroaching full moon, she made sure to look like she was struggling a bit.

"Weiss, look out!" Ruby shouted a moment too late.

Before Weiss could fully register the shape in front of her, she barreled directly onto someone, staring down in shock at the poor victim. The girl below her simply grinned up at her almost comically, her bright green eyes filled with joy.

"Salutations!" The girl brightly stated in warm voice.

Weiss look horrified as she stood, backing away nervously. "Are... You alright?"

The girl took several long seconds to reply, as if taking that time to internally deliberate. "Yes."

With speed and dexterity that defied the logic of one just tackled to the ground, the ginger flipped to her feet deftly and looked among the group happily. "My name is Penny!"

"I'm Ruby."

"Blake."

"Yang."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Weiss inquired incredulously, earning an elbow to the side from Yang. "Erm, I'm Weiss."

"Pleasure to meet you!" Penny beamed in that same almost unstoppable tone of happiness.

"We gotta... go." Ruby slowly stated. "See you later. Friend."

The four girls walked away at a slightly quickened pace, Yang muttering aloud, "Well. She's a weird one."

"What did you just call me?"

They all jumped as Penny seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, Blake feeling like her non-existent fur was on end. How had she not heard the girl this close to a full moon?!

"Uhhh, I didn't!" Yang stammered nervously as Weiss gestured wildly between where Penny was, and where they had left her.

"Not you." Penny breezed past Yang and almost seemed to bear down on Ruby. " _You._ You called me 'friend'. Am I _really_ your friend?"

Blake didn't care why the other two were frantically motioning 'no' with her; she couldn't afford to add another person to the growing list of people to lie to about what she was.

"I uhhhh... Yes...?" Ruby squeaked out.

Penny's face broke into a wide grin, almost like a small child being given something wondrous for the first time. "Sensational!"

It had taken only a few more minutes before Penny finally bid them enthusiastic farewells, leaving them gloriously alone in the street. However, the peace was not meant to last.

"Oh, great. Now I'll never catch that... _Beast._ " Weiss seethed.

And at long last, Blake's seemingly endless patience ran out. "Stop it." She snapped. "Stop calling him that!"

All eyes turned to the glaring girl as Weiss looked at her in disdainful confusion. "I'm sorry, however, excuse me?"

"Stop calling him a beast. Stop calling him a mongrel." Blake demanded. In her time at Beacon, she had forgotten at times just who Weiss really was. It was a painful reminder that she had to keep hiding the truth from her friends at all costs; they would never look at her the same way again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Shall I stop calling this trash can, a trash can? Or this light post, a light post? I call him what he is!"

Blake had to restrain a growl from being voiced, the full moon being in three days was not helping her to keep her wits about her. "You know nothing about him! How can you be so cold? He's done _nothing_ to you!"

Weiss moved closer, a deep anger burning in her ice blue eyes. "He's a danger to society! He's an animal, and a monster! Call me heartless if it makes you feel better, but I will protect everyone from those freaks!"

"That's not what I'm saying and you _KNOW_ it!" Blake shot back.

Yang finally stepped between her partner and her teammate, her hands held up to try to calm them. "Whoa. Whoa guys. Let's take this back to the dorm if you two want to continue your pissing match, okay?"

With a glare, Blake turned and huffed off, leaving Ruby to steer Weiss back to beacon. She couldn't let her agitated state give her away; her life depended on it.

* * *

Ren watched Nora gleefully eat her ice cream as Pyrrha flipped through a book on combat, Jaune reading a comic he had purchased. Her aura was almost all pink again, and it felt like quite the victory to him as he had simply bought ice cream twice. Normally, it was far more difficult for him to soothe her, but maybe today would be an easy day for them.

"Blake!" Nora cheerfully called, humming happily as she skipped towards her rather angry looking friend.

Blake gave them one of the most forced smiles Ren had ever seen; even Jaune looked worried as he walked over. "You okay, Blake?" Jaune inquired softly as Blake declined Nora's offer of ice cream.

"Just... Blowing off some steam." Was the ground out reply.

"Was it Cardin? I know!" Nora seemed far too gleeful. "We'll break his legs!"

Her aura was red again as both Pyrrha and Ren placed a hand on one of her shoulders. "No, we don't need to go that far." Pyrrha stated softly, turning her attention back to Blake. "You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. Would you like to stay with us for a while?"

Blake mulled over the offer before a small smile touched her lips. "I would like that, actually." She admitted, letting them lead her to the nearest bookstore.

"I miss Tuckson's books." Ren sighed off-handedly. "He had a lot of the ones that are difficult to find."

* * *

Blake hadn't expected JNPR to drag her along to every single bookstore in an effort to make her smile, but when she returned to her dorm, she was trying to keep a grip of eight books as well as open the door.

"There you are!" She heard Ruby cheer as she walked in. "I was starting to get worried."

Blake slowly placed her new books on her shelf, taking her time as she caught the scent of Weiss' stewing agitation. She had hoped that she would have let it go, but it would seem that today was filled with bad luck. "If you have something to say, Weiss, then say it."

She turned to see Weiss clench her jaw several times, then take a deep breath to try to calm the rage. Blake knew how it felt to be angry; she had a lifetime of it under her belt.

"Those things are monsters, Blake. Pure and simple."

Amber hues locked with cold ice blue. "No, they aren't. People attack them viciously. People who blindly hate them. They are victims of idiotic slaughter."

 _"I'm the victim here!"_ Weiss shrieked in a frustrated fury.

The room was dead silent as Weiss paced a few times to regain composure, all eyes on her.

"Do you know why I don't trust were creatures?" She started in voice that shook, looking Blake dead in the eyes. "Do you know why I hate the White Fang? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. _War._ As in actual bloodshed."

Weiss turned and slowly stalked to the window, looking up at the nearly full moon with tears welling up slowly, taking measured breaths to try and cling to the composure that threatened to crumble at any moment. Why couldn't her teammate see that she just was trying to protect them? They were her first and only real friends. "For as long as I can remember, my grandfather's company has had a target painted on it's back. My sister and I couldn't have normal lives without guards watching our every move. Everyday, my father would have to come home and try to pretend everything was okay for us as he sent out condolence letters to dozens of families."

Her voice shook in the silence, fighting the tears back still. "Board members were dragged out of their homes and killed. Family friends vanished without a trace. Entire warehouses robbed, and the employees executed. _Executed._ "

Yang's expression was one of pity as she took a careful step towards the distraught heiress. "Weiss, I'm so-"

 _"No!"_ Weiss interrupted, turning to face Blake once more. "Were creatures are all murderers, and thieves!"

Blake felt her own composure starting to crack as she stared at Weiss. There was something hauntingly familiar about how the moonlight shone in her hair as it silhouetted her. Something that started pulling more at those long buried memories of the night she lost the her family. The feeling of deja vu was so strong, it left her somewhat winded. "But not every were is like that. They don't all kill people." She keened in a trembling voice. _'I'm not like that. I'm not a killer. Please, don't think I am.'_ She silently begged.

The tears in Weiss' eyes finally spilled forth in an unrelenting stream, taking a furious step closer to Blake. "Weres killed my mother!" She shouted. "Don't you see how _dangerous_ they are?!"

Blake felt her heart lurch, standing up as her own golden orbs also began to overflow with tears. _"Humans murdered my entire family!"_ She shouted back desperately. "But you don't see me trying slaughter them wholesale!"

Once again, everything was deathly silent, Blake looking between the three sets of confused and worried eyes in terror. She could feel her weapon on her back in case she had to defend herself, trembling almost violently as she started to search for possible exits frantically. She had just as good as outed herself to her team, moving very slowly towards the door. "I..." She stammered. "I...I just..."

The very moment both Yang and Ruby moved towards her cautiously, Blake glanced at Weiss, her blood going cold at the confused hurt in her eyes. She couldn't stand one more moment in that room. In a flash, she created a clone of herself before fleeing at top speed, leaving her teammates behind.

"Wait, Blake!" Yang shouted after her partner, looking at Weiss in disbelief.

"Does... That mean she's one of _them?_ " Was the whispered question.

"I... Don't know. But you listen to me." Yang stated in a very firm voice. "You aren't the only person to suffer a loss. You don't own all the pain. If she's not back by morning, we're looking for her."

Weiss knew that tone left no room for arguments, snuffling stubbornly to try and stop her tears as she felt a smaller body move in behind her to hug her.

"I lost my mom too. I barely remember her." Ruby whispered.

Weiss turned to look at her partner in shock. "You... You too?"

"Yeah. I guess we all share that in the team, huh?"

* * *

Blake hadn't stopped running until she had come to a woodland, and even then she climbed as if the hounds of Hell were after her. As soon as she felt high enough to be safe, Blake broke down and cried. She had outed herself to her team, and Weiss had been so very clear about how she felt about her kind. How could she possibly go back there? How could she convince them that she wasn't like those terrible weres that Weiss spoke of?

A slight rustling of branches caught her attention, turning to see the boy from earlier clambering nimbly towards her.

"Hey. You okay?"

Blake knew he could see the tears on her face; night vision of were creatures at the worst of times was superior to normal humans, and only improved closer to full moons. "I just... I can't believe I... I accidentally told my team."

He winced visibly. "Oooh, oooh... That's rough. Not everyone is good with it, huh?"

She shook her head, partially to try and clear the resurfacing memories. "One of them hates weres. She thinks we're all killers."

The boy sat silently near her for several moments, then tilted his head, a gentle smile on his lips. "Wanna get out of here? Last few nights before a full moon. Gets dangerous for us to wander around alone, ya know?"

His smile was infectious. "Yeah, sounds good. I'm Blake. I'm a werecat." She extended her hand to him.

He took it with a wide, beaming grin. "Sun. I'm a weremonkey. Now, let's go before I get too at home in this tree, and we need to call for a ladder for you."


	9. Black Knight (Yang) to A6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of set up chapters coming up.
> 
> Warning: Plot. Stuff. Blah.
> 
> Disclaimer: Still don't own RWBY.

Yang couldn't even fall asleep as her mind whirled around the events that had unfurled hours before. Weiss and Blake were opposite personalities in many things, but they both were unbelievably stubborn. Only this time, things had escalated so quickly, and now Blake was missing. She could hear Weiss sleeping restlessly, muttering too softly for her to catch over Ruby's loud snores; at least one of them was resting.

Lilac eyes studied the ceiling carefully as she thought over what Blake had said. Was her partner a were? Was she human? And did she actually care one way or another? Blake was guarded, sure. But after losing your entire family, wouldn't anyone be?

As Yang rolled onto her side to face the wall, her thoughts turned to her own lost mothers; one was long dead, and the other was who knows where. She refused to lose her partner too. Not from something as understandable as keeping a secret like this from her if it was true. What sane were creature would admit what they were when Remnant was full of those insane lynch mobs?

* * *

"No! Mom!" Blake screeched as she sat up, her skin covered in an ice cold sweat.

The blanket was off to her side, the cool air coming in through the window frigid, the hotel room disorienting her greatly. Sun was up in a flash by her side, the moonlight glinting off of his very muscular chest. "Hey, you okay there?" He inquired, looking around cautiously in case of trouble.

Blake took several deep gulps of breath to steady herself, nodding shakily as her eyes flicked over his bare chest a few times. "Y-yeah. Just a nightmare."

Sun sat closer to her, bumping his shoulder into hers gently. "Wanna talk about it?"

Blake sighed. She really shouldn't, but everything that had happened yesterday had churned up the long forgotten memories of the night she became an orphan. And Sun was another were, she knew she could trust him. "I... Alright. Could you close the window? Really cold."

As Sun stood up, Blake realized that her new friend apparently liked to sleep in the nude, quickly averting her eyes from his body. As he pattered to the window, Blake found a spot on the ceiling very fascinating, blushing deeply. "So... How did you afford this place?" She asked, trying not to think about his naked form; well, at least he clearly enjoyed staying in top physical form.

"Oooh, I uhh... Put it on my card. I got money, but it's more fun to just take things sometimes." He admitted, walking back to Blake as he sheepishly rubbed his head.

Blake refused to remove her eyes from their chosen spot on the ceiling, even though she was more than a little curious to see what all of her new friend looked like. "And... Uhhh... Boxers or something?"

After he had obliged, Blake hesitantly looked at him again, sighing in relief. "Alright. I umm, I had a dream about the," her words choked her briefly, "the night Mom and Gambol were killed."

Sun placed a very hesitant arm around her shoulders, half surprised when she didn't shrug it off. He said nothing, waiting for her to go on.

"We were on an island called Patch for the change. We always went there, and after we changed, I would go off to see a girl. She gave me tuna." A tired chuckle escaped her lips. "She named me Shroud. I always remembered her name for me. But, I got in trouble when Mom found out I had been around a human. She threatened to have us change elsewhere. So..."

Blake already was fighting back tears, her gaze dropping down to her trembling hands. She was trying to put the vague pieces of a forgotten puzzle together. "So something happened, and we found a girl. Mom... Mom told us to prove something to her. The girl was lost, crying. She had on a really nice dress... Really pale hair, and skin..."

Blake looked up at the wall as hot tears began to fall from her eyes. "A woman screamed, and the girl screamed-"

_-"MOTHER!"-_

"-'Mother'." Images began to clarify in Blake's mind, the once hazy and vague recollections being restored. "Mom went to help, but... She left Gambol and I with the girl. We heard fighting, and howling. And when we heard Mom in pain, Gambol and I went to find her."

Blake could recall the trees as she ran past them, trying to catch up with her brother as the girl raced along to try and keep up with her. "But when Gambol got there, I heard him trying to tell someone th-that Mom couldn't kill a human. The man. H-he had shouted murderer." Blake turned to look at Sun, weeping. "I tried to get to Gambol, but the man had already killed them both. He k-killed them, and was going to kill me too. There was blood, and everything smelled like death, and fear, and I just... I just wanted to get Mom and Gambol up. But they were dead!"

It took a few minutes for Blake to collect herself enough to continue. "But, the girl. She stood between us." The image of the girl sharpened, her voice growing less generic and more true to memory. One she couldn't believe she had forgotten.

_-"No! Daddy, please no!"-_

"H-he spared me, and... And..."

She could recall the girl turning, and her crying face was clear in the moonlight. Her white hair in the elegant ponytail, her pale skin, and her ice blue-

_-"Weiss, stay back!"-_

Blake held her hands over her mouth as she screamed in shock and horror at the memory, sobbing uncontrollably. The girl that had saved her that night was her own teammate; Weiss Schnee. Sun was trying to console her, but not a single word of it reached her as her mind kicked into overdrive. Weiss, the girl who loathed her very nature without knowing, had saved her life. Her father had murdered her mother and brother, but she had refused to let him kill her too.

At long last, her screams turned into noisy sobs, and she could hear Sun calling room service.

"A glass of warm milk, please. Girlfriend had a really bad nightmare. Yeah, thanks. No, no need for security, but we will call if there is. Thanks again."

Blake rocked herself slightly as the newly remembered information buzzed around her head. How was she going to confront her teammates, let alone Weiss now?

* * *

Weiss sat up with a gasp, blinking several times as her eyes darted around the room. It had been many years since had had any dreams about her mother. But this one had been so... Odd.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice whispered by her side, making her jump.

Weiss whipped her head around to see Yang, panting even heavier than she had when she had first woken up thanks to being startled. Quickly, she tried to pull up an air of graceful distance. "Of c-course I am." She hissed, wishing her voice didn't shake so much.

"Bullshit." Yang flatly whispered back. "You've been tossing and turning for almost an hour."

Weiss crumbled slightly with a sigh, not even caring that Yang had been awake; she was secretly thankful to be able to talk to someone. "Just... Bad dream."

Yang shifted to sit on the edge of her bed with ease of practice. "Wanna talk about it? Or should I just let you try to go back to sleep?"

"No, I think... I think I would like to talk about it." Weiss chewed her lower lip as Ruby snored above them. "I was running through these woods. I think they were familiar, but I was trying to find my mother. I could hear her screaming, and... and weredogs barking... Werewolves, howling. I was scared."

She felt Yang place her hand atop of her trembling one. "I've had that part before. Mom died because weres murdered her. Father told us that... That the creatures that did it were dead too. He made sure of it. She had died protecting me." Her gaze shifted to the lowering moon out the window. "But this time, I could hear someone crying. A little girl. There was a tiny black kitten, all covered in blood. She was crying. But her eyes..." Weiss' voice shook with tears she refused to cry. "They were so sad. Her eyes were gold, and they just... Looked at me in fear... And she was crying..."

Weiss looked into Yang's eyes piteously, the tears she had so desperately fought sliding down her cheeks. "And... And someone was calling me a murderer... I th-think it was Blake..."

Yang instantly pulled Weiss into a soothing embrace, shushing her quietly. She could feel her shuddering sobs as they became muffled against her sleep shirt, rubbing her back tenderly.

"I'm not a murderer!"

"Shhhh... You're not... You just... You really should talk to Blake when we find her. You both need to get this resolved." Yang urged, settling into Weiss' bed.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

It was well into the morning, and Yang had long since given up on waiting for Blake to return. She refused to be idle, and as such she had begun rushing around the school in an attempt to locate her partner. Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren had all split up to hunt around the town, while Jaune also inquired among the school residents about Blake. As much as Yang knew she should have waited for Ruby and Weiss to wake up, her growing fear over her partner was overwhelming.

"Yang!" She heard Velvet call, watching the older student bound over. "I heard Blake is missing, is that true?"

Yang nodded breathlessly. "Y-yeah. She and Weiss got into it last night and she bolted. Do you have any idea where she could be?"

Velvet nervously shook her head. "No, but we have to find her. I'll help."

Yang couldn't even nod before Velvet was gone, her jaw dropping at the speed that the second year moved. Shaking her head, Yang pushed on to find Blake again. She didn't need to lose a third person in her life. Two was more than enough.

* * *

Velvet was hoping that maybe, just maybe, Blake was blowing off steam in one of the training rooms. But that was dashed as one after another were either occupied by other students, or empty. The final door slid open, and Velvet popped her head in just in time to watch Cardin getting knocked flat on his back by an AI robot, growling as he stood and shouted angrily.

"Program restart!"

As the robot stood, Velvet recognized Pyrrha's stance, Cardin planting himself across from it before they engaged. Just as she moved to leave, the AI kicked his left foot out from under him, the holographic javelin at his throat.

"God _DAMMIT!"_ He swore as the machine backed off again, slamming his mace into the floor.

Velvet knew she should go and keep looking for Blake, but she took a moment to speak instead. "Y-your stance is off."

Cardin whipped his head around to look at the door, glaring at Velvet. "What?" He seethed.

He watched her flinch, using the door frame as a shield. "Yuh-your stance. It's off."

"Yeah right." He huffed. Who was she to tell him his stance was off? She hadn't even been watching that long, had she?

_'So what's your excuse for acting like a monster?'_

Coco's words echoed around his mind as he glanced at Velvet with a bit less venom, easing his tone to halt her as she turned. "But if my stance was off, which it isn't, how would I fix it?"

Cardin watched the older teen walk over slowly, sinking down into his stance. "This is how you stand." She moved her left foot a few inches back and closer. "Th-this is how you should stand for your style."

Cardin huffed, but sank into the stance she had showed him, feeling Velvet nudge his foot a bit closer to his body once before nodding. It felt both odd and a bit more balanced at the same time, still an adjustment he had never made before.

"Program restart." She called, backing off as the AI sank into it's own stance.

The jabs and strikes were countered faster, the leg hook that had been his downfall before was narrowly avoided before he ultimately found the javelin at his throat anyways. The AI backed off, Cardin looking at Velvet with a very slight smirk. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Thanks. Maybe you could help me out with training sometime."

Velvet beamed at him brightly before a look of panic took over. "After I help find Blake. Yang can't find her."

Cardin's eyes widened. "Blake? I'll help too. I owe you for the stance anyways."

They both took off and began to hunt the halls, trying to find the missing student. Cardin hated to admit it, but he was grateful for her help, and would rather learn more from her than keep being a jerk to her. After all, he wasn't a monster.

* * *

Yang paused to catch her breath on the sidewalk, panting heavily from her wild running. Ruby had sent her a message earlier that she and Weiss were also looking, but it still wasn't enough to calm her. Even Professor Goodwitch had looked worried at the mention of the girl missing; when Nora had gone unaccounted for for almost two days, she had barely batted an eyelash. Everyone seemed to have a sense of urgency about finding her, and it only served to fuel Yang's own worry.

She righted herself and took off again, almost running into the girl from yesterday in her haste.

"Salutations!" Penny remarked happily. "You seem to be in a hurry today, friend Yang."

Yang swept her gaze around the area. "Yeah. One of my teammates is missing. Her name's Blake. The girl with the black hair and amber eyes? Wears a black bow."

Penny looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned again. "Oh! You mean-"

Yang stared at her in dumb shock, half unable to process what she had said. There wasn't any way...

Blake wasn't. Was she?

* * *

Blake felt her heart pounding heavily, looking out at the slowly dipping sun over the harbor. Tomorrow night was the full moon, so of course there had been a hushed whisper of White Fang activity today. They were at their greatest non-changed strength on this night, and only a fool would think the organization would be motionless tonight. But Blake dared to hope.

Sun gracefully clambered up the wall beside her, holding up an apple for her. "Eat. You haven't in hours."

Blake glared at him suspiciously. "You stole them, didn't you?"

He simply took a bite of his own with a cheeky grin, still offering one to her. Reluctantly, Blake took the apple and started eating it, watching the docks intently as twilight began to take hold. As if on cue, airships quickly began to descend upon the harbor, Blake and Sun both hunkering against the roof.

As soon as they landed, the doors dropped, and figures poured out, moving at nearly impossible speeds across the area. The red emblem caught Blake's eye, and she felt her stomach drop to her feet. "Oh _no_... It really was them..."

Sun gave her a piteous glance. "You really didn't think it was them, did you?"

"I did. I just... Didn't want to, I guess. This wasn't what we... What they were meant to do. It wasn't our purpose."

"Move it, you filthy animals!" A male voice chided in an irritated voice. "Stop chasing your tails, and get the cargo."

"Wait." Blake whispered. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with humans. Especially not one like that. Cover me. I'm going in."

Before Sun could stop her, Blake gracefully dropped onto the ground below, moving quickly towards the red haired human.

"It's _rope,_ not a _leash._ Get it right, and get what we need."

Blake grabbed him and drew Gambol Shroud, resting the thin blade against his throat with the gun pointing at the weres in front of her. "Brothers of the White Fang," She could hear them sniffing the air, trying to determine if she really was one of them. "why are you helping this human?"

She could see several of them shuffle slightly, but all of their weapons remained trained on her and the captive. The human chuckled darkly at her. "Things are a bit different now, my little pet. You have no idea who you are dealing with."

Before Blake could move, the man had fired his weapon at the floor, blasting her several feet away from him. "Don't just stand there, _attack!"_

Blake scrambled to her feet as most of the White Fang surged at her, parrying attacks and striking at them. She could remember some of them, and from the hesitation she felt from a few, knew they could remember her. But she couldn't let them do this.

* * *

Yang raced up as the police questioned Blake and the blond male, Ruby already nearby and watching a car pull away. It took every ounce of self-control not to barge over to the officer and shove him aside to make sure Blake was alright, but the moment the male walked away, Weiss took full advantage of it.

Blake stood nervously in front of Weiss, looking at the smaller girl with slight fear. Her heart was thundering, her mind unable to figure out what to say first to the unsure young woman who had saved her life all those years ago. It was so surreal to be here, knowing just who Weiss was now, wondering just how much of their meeting was fate.

But Weiss set her jaw and folded her arms, looking into Blake's eyes. "Blake, I need you to tell me now; are you a were?"

Blake wanted so desperately to come clean, to speak the truth to her teammate. She wanted to tell her that she was a werecat, and that Weiss had saved her from meeting the same end as her mother and brother on Patch. But there was that uncertain fear in Weiss' eyes, a worry that forced the truth back from her mouth, no matter how much she wanted to say it. "No. I'm not." She lied.

The relief that washed over Weiss was visible, and Blake felt torn; she wanted to be honest, but she felt as if she had done the right thing. Weiss puffed up again, her lips pursed. "Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you?" When there wasn't a satisfactory answer, she went on. "Twelve hours. And Yang has been up since dawn looking for you."

Blake finally found her words, though they shook with uncertainty. "I... I'm really sorry. I just needed some space. Sun was looking out for me."

Weiss frowned at the nervously waving boy, then gave him a curt nod. "Thank you. _Sun._ " The sound of his name was a bit forced, but it was clear she was trying. "But next time, just talk to us instead of going to... Someone _else._ We're your team."

Blake smiled and nodded, sitting down on a box as Weiss fidgeted, but didn't leave.

"What... Happened to your family? If I may ask?"

Blake jerked her gaze to meet Weiss', chewing the inside of her lip. Could she bend the truth enough to say it? Could she speak and not let it slip? She would try, and if needed, she would run; she was a damn good runner after all these years. "I... I guess. It's not pleasant."

Weiss settled onto the box next to her, patiently curious. It gave her the strength to start talking. "I don't remember my father. He died in a riot where humans were attacking suspected weres. He was just heading to work, and just was swept up in it. But Mom, and Gambol..." Her voice choked. "They were killed by a man who never let her explain."

Weiss placed her hand on top of Blake's. "I'm sorry."

Blake smiled at her sadly. "We were out at night, and we found a lost girl. We wanted to reunite her with her family, but none of us could communicate to her properly."

_'We wanted to stay with you until your family arrived. We told you, but you don't speak cat.'_

"Mom heard a woman scream, and left us with the girl. She went off to help the woman, and we all got nervous waiting."

_'You screamed that it was your mother. Ours went to save yours from the weredogs.'_

Blake looked at the night sky, silently crying. "Gambol... He got too nervous. He took off without us. The girl and I followed. We heard shouting, and then I heard Gambol telling someone that it was all a misunderstanding. And then... And then I heard gunfire. And more gunfire. When I got there, they were dead. They were dead, and I just wanted to go home. I wanted them to get up and run."

Weiss simply stared at Blake as she felt her own tears slipping down her cheeks, listening to the horrible story silently. How could anyone have shot two people for a misunderstanding?

Blake turned to face Weiss, taking both of the pale hands in hers. "He would have killed me too, but the girl. She stood between us. She used herself as a shield for me."

_'You saved me. You protected me, Weiss.'_

"She said that Mom, Gambol and I had been keeping her safe. Her mother hadn't been killed by mine."

_'You knew. You knew I was a were, and you wouldn't let him kill me too.'_

"She let me get away. I never saw her again. I owe her so much. I wish I could tell her."

_'It was you, Weiss. I owe you my life. I just wish I could tell you the truth.'_

Weiss gently squeezed Blake's hands, her expression soft. "My mother died because of weres. But... I guess, maybe I shouldn't be so horrible to them. You trust them, after all. Maybe I could learn tolerance from you, Blake."

The two girls embraced firmly, Blake holding Weiss just a bit tighter, but minding her grip; the nearly full moon could turn a gentle hug into a bone-crushing squeeze by accident. "Thank you." Blake whispered, wishing she could come completely clean. Maybe one day she could tell her team. Maybe one day, she would tell Weiss the truth. But not today.

Yang and Ruby walked over as the embrace ended, both firmly hugging her. Yang refused to let her go, just remained hugging her. "Don't do that again, Blake." She hissed, moving to stand again. "I was so worried about you."

Blake smiled a bit sadly at her. "I'm sorry, Yang. I just... Got a bit overwhelmed."

Yang was about to speak, but a yawn escaped her instead. "I want to talk, but we need sleep." Ruby and Weiss nodded, starting to walk back to Beacon as Yang smirked. "We'll talk in the morning."

Blake nodded, giving Sun a final wave before the four teens walked back to the school in amiable silence.

* * *

Blake was shocked that Professor Goodwitch had given her detention for running, but she guessed it couldn't be helped; she could have been killed by idiots. It prevented her from talking to anyone until she had to go back to the dorm to pack for the change. Ruby and Weiss looked at her curiously, unsure of why she was packing a bag.

"Special mission again. I'll be back in the morning." She explained. After a moment, she spoke again. "Don't worry about me. There will be a group with me, and Professor Goodwitch."

Weiss frowned. "Are you going to fight weres?"

Blake paused for a moment. "More like monitor. No fighting unless it can't be avoided. They're people, after all. With families, and friends."

Weiss shuffled, then handed her a small vial of blue dust. "Ice. Just in case. They'll thaw out by sunrise, and you can escape."

Blake accepted it with a nod, then stood to be hugged by Ruby. "Stay safe, okay?"

"I will. I promise." She had to fight the urge to purr as Ruby rubbed her back kindly before pulling away.

As she took up her bag and Gambol Shroud, she looked around for Yang, noting that she wasn't there. It bothered her bit that her partner was absent, but sunset was still approaching, and she couldn't risk not being in the Forever Fall when she changed. With a small nod, Blake left the dorm and started down the hall, sighing as she shouldered her bag.

"Hey." Yang called from ahead of her in the hall.

Blake walked over to her with a vague smile. "Hey. I have another assignment. I should be back by morning."

Yang nodded, then seemed to debate something before speaking. "Be safe tonight, okay? The full moon makes people a bit crazy."

Blake grinned pleasantly at the oddly helpful statement; humans did get more suspicious on these nights, and far more trigger happy. "Don't worry. I'll look out for the Grimm and were creatures."

Yang locked eyes with Blake, her expression gentle. "I was talking about humans. Not weres."

Blake felt herself go pale and cold. "I... I don't understand."

Yang placed a hand on Blake's shoulder. "I _know_ , Blake. And, if you ever need me to help you with... anything, let me know. We're partners. If anything happens, you know where our dorm window is. I'll leave it open."

Blake opened and closed her mouth several times without the ability to actually form words. It took a few minutes to speak again. "You know... What I am?"

Yang grinned. "Yup. Not specifically, but the general type. I'll keep your secret, though. No one needs to know anything other than you're on team RWBY, and you love books."

Blake gave her a grateful glance. "Thank you. I don't know what to say."

"Nothing is needed. Just be careful, okay?"

"Yeah. I will. The staff will be there too."

Yang lowered her hand awkwardly. "I should let you go. Setting sun and all that. Don't be late for your mission."

Blake briskly walked away with a wave, feeling both scared and relieved. At least one person knew, and Yang seemed to really care about her. Maybe one day, she could tell the others.

However, when she arrived at the changing site, Professor Goodwitch had a new student with her; one Blake knew.

"Everyone, this is Sun Wukong, a weremonkey. He will be with us for the Vytal Festival."

Sun grinned at everyone, winking at Blake.

"Yo, Sun." Dylan called. "You can change in a tree with me."

"Spy on us, and we _will_ hurt you." Kara threatened.

Blake rolled her eyes and walked to Velvet, picking spot to undress in as they spoke.

"That was bloody dumb, Blake. We were all worried."

"I know. I'm sorry. I was just so afraid that I had just outed myself to my team. I mean, you know it could have been worse." Blake sighed.

Velvet nodded as they sat naked, their bags next to each other by a tree. "Yeah. But, next time, let me know. My team would be well chuffed to have you over."

"Yeah. I will."

As the sun crawled into the horizon, Blake thought about Yang, and her words. At least there was one person on her team that knew, and still cared. Maybe she would talk to Yang about things fully in the coming week. Maybe there was hope after all.


	10. White Knight (Jr) takes Black Pawn B5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Back to shorter chapters as it starts to deviate more from the original source material again.
> 
> WARNING: Ending has mild/moderate violence and gore. Prepare yourself accordingly.
> 
> Disclaimer: Still don't own RWBY.

Blake grumbled as she flopped onto her bed, exhausted from training with Ruby in combat. While she and Yang worked great as a pair, she was a bit less than on par with Ruby, and even less well matched with Weiss. They had to work cohesively as a team if they wanted to survive. And so far, the only thing they would be managing is to accidentally get each other murdered. Ill-timed stepping into each other, trying to both kill the enemy first, and a whole host of other problems were putting them all at odds with each other in combat; at least only when it wasn't their partner.

Ruby groaned from her place on the floor beside Weiss' bed, too sore and tired to make the climb into her own. Blake replied with a groan of her own, resulting in them both sharing a heart-felt conversation solely in grunts and other exhausted, pained noises.

"Awww, cheer up." Yang beamed from the door, Weiss draped limply over her shoulder. "You all tried your best. You failed, but you tried."

"Yang... Put me on my bed." Weiss ground out in irritation. "I am wearing a combat skirt."

Yang casually pat the smaller girl's rear condescendingly. "Don't want everyone to see your combat undies?"

"I will use my glyphs to hurl you into the sun." Was the hissed threat.

"Of course you will, deary." Yang chuckled, but carefully stepped over Ruby to obey.

Yang looked at her exhausted and sore teammates, settling her gaze on Blake. With the new moon a little more than a week away, she knew her partner's strength was waning, and she would soon be far too ill to help them on missions. How would she be able to compensate for being down a person? How could the team function properly without her being there to learn with them?

Yang frowned at her bunk as she climbed up into it to rest. They would have to learn to adapt, and even Blake would have to fight when ill at times just to keep people from noticing her oddly timed absences. Keeping all these secrets was harder than Yang expected.

* * *

 _"OOMPFF!"_ Cardin wheezed as Velvet landed on his chest, one boot casually on his shoulder to keep him down.

She moved and quickly helped him up, smiling as he brushed himself off. "You're getting faster, Cardin." Velvet praised.

He rolled his eyes. "Not a chance. You keep kicking my ass. I should have won at least once by now."

Velvet giggled. "Pyrrha's helping Jaune, and you'd be off your rocker if you think he's beat her. You're improving, I promise you. Do remember that I am a second year."

Though still incredibly doubtful, Cardin sighed and grabbed a water bottle and towel. Before he took a swig, he looked at his mentor and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, Velvet?"

She looked up from her own water bottle, taking a hearty drink.

"Listen." He stated uncertainly. "I know I was a major dick to you before. For months. It's unacceptable, really, and I have no excuse for that. I'm sorry. Really."

Velvet blinked at him in stunned shock, then grinned. "It's fine. All's forgiven, Cardin. But we should call it for today. You still need to train with your team."

Before Cardin could say anything, Velvet lifted her camera and snapped a picture of his bewildered expression, beamed at him kindly, and headed off. He shook his head to try to make sense of her blatant kindness before finally drinking his water. He couldn't understand how she could forgive him so easily, nor how she was so nice to him. Maybe she was what a genuinely good person was like.

"Yo! Cardin!"

Cardin glanced up to see his team walking in, waving at them casually. "Hey, so you hear about the lynching a few days back? Got another one." Russel chortled.

Cardin felt his stomach churn. Velvet had told him all about the lynching; a young man who was found half changed into a falcon, beaten and shot to death in a side street. She had shown him a picture of the man with friends, grinning and looking every bit as normal any he did. He was so much more unsure of the hate he used to feel for the were creatures. "I heard. But, why are people killing them? It's... It's not right. Don't they deserve protection too?"

His team looked at him in utter confusion. "Why?" Dove scoffed. "They're all killers."

Cardin frowned in frustration. "But what did they do to get lynched? I mean, weren't they just minding their own business?"

Russell blinked at him. "Bro, they aren't even humans. They are just animals in clothing, waiting to kill people."

"I guess." He blandly submitted. They didn't know, they didn't see the pictures. "Let's get training."

He didn't feel like arguing with them, or debating about who was right or wrong, but the more he really learned about the were creatures from Velvet, the more he questioned everything he had been taught. They weren't mindless, they had friends and jobs. They weren't evil, they had fears and dreams like anyone else. They didn't deserve to die, they deserved the right to exist just like he did.

* * *

Ozpin sighed as he sat across from Coco, the pictures of the lynching scene sprawled around them. They had been pouring over them for days to see if they could find anything to explain the random change that the victims seemed to exhibit. For all of their work, they still came up with nothing to show for it.

"Professor," Coco began, "we have looked over these pictures a thousand times, and there is nothing new."

His eyes met hers sternly. "Then we look again. We must be missing something. There is no reason why these people are half changed in broad daylight, and there have been too many losses."

Coco took off her sunglasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'm not disagreeing with you, Professor. I hate these damn lynchings too. I hate how they affect Velvet, and I am damn scared of this happening to her too." She tapped the edge of the table. "But there is _nothing_ new here to help us. We need a new lead."

"Miss Adel, I suggest you go and rest." Glynda interrupted gently from the door. "We have no idea when we will need your team again."

Ozpin watched as the teen stood and nodded, his jaw tight as he looked at his old friend. He gave Coco a curt nod as she left them, then lifted his mug to his lips. "We _have_ to keep searching." He urged.

Glynda inclined her head passively. "I know, but she and her team are part of our first line of defense against both the lynchings and the Grimm. We can't run them into the ground and expect them to be in top form. They'll make mistakes."

He took a long drink from his coffee. "Everyone makes mistakes. We all have a lifetime of making them."

Glynda stiffened visibly. "Some have been more costly than others, Ozpin. Perhaps you were the one who made mistakes, but it wasn't always your shoulders that bore the consequences of them."

Ozpin set his cup down and looked at a far wall, his fingers laced as he rest his chin on his thumbs. "Some have indeed been more costly than others, but we all knew that coming in to this life. We knew some would fall. But I will not let the innocent die due to passive silence."

"Still the same Ozpin." She hissed in a voice thick with emotion. "Is your crusade always so closely linked to your pride? You may be wise, but your grandeur will kill many. _Again._ "

He remained motionless as she walked out, listening to her heels click on the tiles. His ego and pride were certainly issues, but he had to remain vigilant. The past needed to be learned from, however. How much more time would be needed to heal those particular wounds he had inflicted?

* * *

Junior towered over the young boy, the half changed were cowering in pain as he palmed his bat. "Last chance, boy." He smirked. "Tell me about your packs. Where are they heading?"

The boy hissed viciously, venomous fangs of a serpent exposed. "Go fuck yourself!"

Junior sighed, rolling his eyes. "No need. I got your pretty little girlfriend for that later." He goaded, watching the mixture of fear and rage etch into his captive's partially scaled face. "And you just ran out of chances."

"But she's human!" The boy cried out in horror. "You wouldn't!"

Junior chuckled as he raised his bat. "Oh, I will. And she'll tell me anything I want by the time I'm done."

With a grunt, Junior swung the bat with all of his strength, the metal weapon connecting with a sickening, wet smack against the boy's skull. The were slumped to the concrete floor, barely conscious as he looked up at Junior, blood leaking from his eyes, nose, mouth, and the bones that protruded from the massive dent in his head. The boy drooled blood out as he made incoherent grunting and hissing sounds, Junior sighing slightly.

"Stubborn, huh? Say good-bye, Tommy. I'll give your girl my best for you." Again, Junior hoisted the bat, and swung it down, the squelch of his skull caving in from impact making him smile.

He removed the weapon and cleaned it off, ignoring the red stains on his clothing. Once finished, Junior sauntered out, looking at the two men stationed at the door casually. "Burn the body. I'm going to talk to that fine piece of ass upstairs. Maybe she'll give me an easier time before I show her a good one."

The men all laughed, Junior leaving them to their task as he went to his. Roman gave him some good toys to play with, and he loved getting information out of them, no matter the method.


	11. Black Knight (Weiss) to G4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here's another update! Chapter 12 is already in the works. Super stoked about this fanfic. Also, TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS FANFIC! How time has flown, and how this has grown in popularity in the last year so much. Two years of this hell, and oddly enough, I am almost right on track for the number of chapters that should be uploaded.
> 
> Warning: PLOT.
> 
> Shout outs:
> 
> Phoenix8221: Thank you for taking the time to write on this! I'm really happy that people are enjoying all of the little odd things I did to alter the RWBY universe, but keep it true enough to it's original form. Yes, Junior is slime. And you'll only hate him more as time goes on!
> 
> All of my readers: Without all y'all, this would have died off a long time ago. Thank you for keeping with me, and for leaving your love in the reviews. Every follow, every favorite, and every review is a huge boost to my drive to work on these stories. Without you, I wouldn't be writing anymore. You all have my love.

Ruby yelped as the AI lunged at her, finding the attack swiftly halted by a shot from Ember Celia as she jumped back to gain some more distance. Yang cheered as she shot at the floor, launching herself into the air and towards her sister, firing rounds into it fiercely.

Ruby took stock of the one machine that was advancing on Yang from behind, rushing at it to flip over her sister and cut it in half. Yang grinned and gave her a thumbs up as they returned to fighting together. Hopefully Weiss and Blake were doing just as well together.

* * *

Blake threw herself to the floor as Weiss accidentally sent one of the AI flying her way via a glyph. "Watch it!" She called.

Weiss looked over her shoulder to see her teammate scrambling to her feet, and then finding her vision suddenly filled with one of Blake's clones. With a gasp, she found herself thrown aside, the clone turning to shadows as the AI struck it. She lay sprawled for a few moments before returning to her feet, charging forwards to have to dodge Blake last second; they both seemed to try to be doing the exact same plan.

"We need to work together!" Blake hissed.

Weiss growled in frustration. "That requires communicating! Which _you_ seem to never have learned!"

Blake had to flip away from another attack, glaring at Weiss incredulously. "I do know how to communicate!"

"Really? _Really?_ " Weiss shot back. "So that side step nearly into my attack was on purpose?"

Weiss watched her use a clone to jump almost impossibly high into the air to avoid both AI charging her, then land gracefully on the floor. "I was _trying_ to cut them off!"

Weiss gracefully pirouetted away from a sword. "We should be working as a team! Like these AI! They are seamless, and we can't win until we are too!"

Blake fired a few shots at the two robots, then rolled to be next to her teammate. "And what, shout out all of our moves for them to counter?"

Weiss stared at Blake almost dumbly. "These AI are programmed to only read attacks. Not voice commands." There was a slight pause. "Didn't you ever practice with these before?"

Blake was uncomfortably shifting as she watched their opponents. "I... Trained on the field. I never went to an academy. If I didn't fight against living people or Grimm, I would never have learned. Or lived."

It was yet another luxury that Weiss had taken for granted; the simple ability to train in an almost completely safe environment. Family, home, and the ability to be safe were things that her teammate hadn't had, and now she needed to learn.

"Alright. These are standard training AI for assessing. It means that it's essentially deaf to prevent students from using commands to disable it." Weiss told her before they had to both jump away. "They wirelessly communicate! It keeps them in sync! We can freely talk and they don't adjust for any of it!"

Blake dashed to the side to avoid a round from the AI. "They move together. Maybe we should try to keep them apart!"

Weiss looked around the room. "Get to the far left corner in ten seconds!"

Blake dashed over as a red glyph flared to life below her, a sudden surge of power flooding her body. She felt as if she could take on the world. With a soft growl in her throat, Blake rushed at the AI that was about to blind-side Weiss, knocking it across the room. "Weiss, two steps left! Get ready to attack!" She shouted as it clattered to its feet.

Weiss quickly shifted positions, finding one of the clones lifting her into the air, then hurled her towards one of the AI. She swung Myrtenaster gracefully, using her earth dust to knock it far from it's companion, the other making a confused beep as it looked at the dazed AI.

The lone AI suddenly charged at her, Weiss countering with a elegant combination of her semblance and her weapon, Blake flipping over the both of them to slash at the machine. It staggered to one knee, and just as Blake raised Gambol Shroud to finish it off, a beam of concussive energy struck Weiss, sending her sprawling across the room.

Blake was frozen, staring at the unconscious body of her teammate as her head spun with memories of all of the people she had lost in her life; a terrifyingly high number for a girl so young. She knew Weiss wasn't dead, but the girl was on her side, her weapon far from her body, and it reminded her far too much of a dead body. Of another friend to die in front of her.

Blake was panting harshly, the head spinning as her limbs shook, not sure if it was red or black that tinted the edges of her vision. She heard the nearly audible sound of feline yowling, the furious sound clouding her thoughts; Blake was unsure of how her werecat side could be so prevalent only a week from the new moon.

Her arms moved to her sides on their own accord, the AI tilting it's head at her in uncertainty. Still staring at Weiss, Blake felt her aura balloon outwards violently to push it into the far wall. Her legs carried her to the fallen girl, and suddenly, everything caught up to her all at once.

"Weiss!" She called out in a strangled voice, her aura attacking for her.

The AI both found themselves faced with a phantom feline with glowing yellow eyes, the cat slashing at them. It ripped one nearly in half as the other attacked, Blake dropping to her knees to touch Weiss' shoulder gently. "Wake up, please wake up." She whimpered, forcing herself to get a grip. She had to control her emotions, and her voice evened out, only shaking slightly. "Weiss, you have to wake up."

A lethargic bleep caused her to look up, seeing the remaining AI slowly power down with three limbs missing, the werecat fading away. It had been so long since she had been so distressed that her were side manifested, and it only made Blake more sure that she had to control herself. It was far too dangerous to expose herself with just that, and if Weiss ever found out...

No, she refused to even entertain that thought. Yang would keep her safe. Yang, and Professor Goodwitch would help create a plausible lie should she slip up.

Blake scooped up Weiss, struggling a bit from the weight as she made her way to the training door. She had to get Weiss to the infirmary, soon. Just to be sure she was okay.

* * *

"And man, she almost got my jaw too!" Jaune half-shouted, both of his legs in casts. "Not being able to talk would have been the _worst!_ "

Weiss rolled her eyes looking at the empty chair on the other side of her bed, refusing to look at the annoying boy in the bed next to her. "Yes. What a tragedy." She blandly stated, hoping one of her teammates would be coming soon. If she had to endure anymore of Jaune talking in the hopes of impressing her, she just might break his jaw herself.

"All of you can't go in at once. There is only one chair by the bed!" The voice of the nurse seethed. "Obviously, only one of you can fit!"

However, Weiss looked to the door in time to see Blake, Ruby, and Yang all barrel into the room at once, Yang turning back to give a cheeky wink and a thumbs up. "If it fits, we sits!" She replied, sitting down on the chair proudly.

Blake blinked at the occupied chair, and shrugged vaguely before sitting down on Yang's lap, Ruby carefully perching herself in Blake's with a grin. "Whoa! Careful!" Yang warned, quickly taking hold of Blake's hands and wrapping them around Ruby's waist, her own securing themselves around Blake. "United we perch, divided we get booted out."

The nurse walked in, glowering at the three of them on the one chair. It took several moments before she huffed irritably, stalking back out with a furious, "I don't get paid enough for this. When is Gina coming back from vacation? I can't wait to go back to Haven."

Weiss felt her lips twitch in amusement at the sight of her teammates sitting atop each other. She shook with the repressed giggles, even though it made her side hurt.

"You laughing at me? I won't take that sitting down." Yang joked, poking her face around Blake's shoulder.

Ruby was swinging her feet slightly. "How are you feeling? Blake said you got hit pretty hard."

Weiss nodded with a smile. "Just sore. Those things pack a punch."

Blake shifted under Ruby slightly. "I'm sorry I wasn't more aware of the other AI. You shouldn't have been hurt because of my negligence."

Weiss inclined her head with a kind sigh. "Blake, we both know it's not entirely on you. We both messed up. We are a team. You're still learning how things are different in this environment. I should have briefed you before the training to make sure we both knew about the program."

 _"Awww!"_ Yang squealed. "Look at you two bonding! So proud of my girls!"

Both Weiss and Blake turned to glare at Yang, then returned to their conversation. "I know for next time. But the nurse said you're only here for another hour for observation before you're released."

"H-hey... Weiss?" Jaune awkwardly inquired.

Four sets of eyes looked his way, a perfectly groomed white eyebrow arching. "Yes?"

Jaune flashed a grin at her, but it shook with nerves. "Since we're both laying here, how about you be my date for the dance in a few months? You know, it would be great to have a girl like you on my arm that night."

Weiss took in a slow, furious breath through her nose as her ice blue eyes widened, puffing up with fury and indignation. "Excuse me? Did you just ask me to be your... _Your arm candy?!_ "

Jaune chuckled uncertainly. "Well, yeah. All guys like having beautiful girls like you with them to these things, don't they?"

Weiss was shaking in fury, but calmed herself down. "No. I will not be your trophy for the night, thank you. Find someone else to grace with your _generous_ offer." She hissed, using the words like a poisoned dagger against him. How dare he treat her like a thing?!

"But-!"

Ruby hopped off of Blake and walked over to Jaune. "What happened to your legs?"

Jaune looked at her in confusion before grinning. "Team training with Nora. Got caught in the middle of it. Nurse says that my aura will have them fixed in another day."

Blake remained on Yang's lap uncertainly as Ruby sat next to Jaune's bed to talk, listening to her friends talking happily. In a few days, she and the other weres would start feeling the varying affects of moon sickness, and they would all be spending time here. Hopefully, no one would find out the truth about her.

* * *

"So, you see," Oobleck sputtered out swiftly, "Blake's aura did that strange were creature thing."

Glynda frowned. "She had to have felt threatened. A were doesn't simply produce this reaction for no reason. She must have felt her life, or Weiss' was in grave danger."

Ozpin nodded, his hands folded under his chin. "She is not a very violent girl, by any stretch of the imagination. But, Glynda, try to help her control it. Things are getting incredibly dangerous for your students."

"I know." She replied. "And I will. After they recover from the moon sickness. They need to conserve their strength right now."

"Very well." He conceded. "Get some rest, all of you. We need to be in top form for the next lynching."

As she walked away, Glynda sighed sadly. He no longer used the word 'if', because it was so often they knew it would be soon. Things were never quiet for long anymore, and no one could understand just how much it hurt her to see another were creature dead at the hands of humans. So much for peace, and understanding.

Glynda shook her head as she thought more, desperately wanting to find the source of how the weres started changing in daylight. She had to protect her students, and the other weres. She had no other option.

* * *

Roman sat at the table across from Cinder, his lit cigar held in his teeth for a moment as he held the glass of brandy loftily, removing the cigar with a grin. "All is going well, then, I see."

Cinder smirked around the glass of wine, her eye almost flickering like fire in the candle light. "Yes. Emerald and Mercury are securing uniforms as we speak. However, only teams of four may enter the Vytal Festival matches, and we need another person."

Roman took a long draw on his cigar, kicking his feet onto the table. "I know the perfect person. She is my personal assistant, and a fantastic fighter."

A raven eyebrow arched curiously. "Will she let anything accidentally slip?"

A dark chuckle filled the room. "She is a woman of very few words. She would easily look the part of a student, and I know she would enjoy anything you ask of her."

Cinder leaned back in thought. "When shall I meet her?"

Roman shrugged. "She's away on a mission right now. When she returns, I will be back, and you will meet her." He toasted her with his glass. "You needn't worry, she will be perfect. Keep your end, and I'll keep mine."

Cinder nodded, taking another long sip. "I have the location of another camp for you. And, Mercury is assisting in keeping the lynchings around."

Roman took another draw on his cigar, his grin cold, calculating. "Excellent. You're doing everything you promised, and more. Keep up the great work."


	12. White Bishop (Neo) to C4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And with this update, I am exactly where I should be with uploading things. I am so glad that this fic has really taken off, but I have noticed that chapter 18 seems to be the limit before I start hitting a wall of death for my fics. Hopefully I can power through for this and others.
> 
> Warning: Plot! So spooky.
> 
> Shout outs:
> 
> Phoenix8221: I'm glad you loved the totem. I really wanted to delve into before they became incredibly coordinated and show them learning to fight together. It just was so quick in the series, and I like to show fun failures. You'll be asking a lot of questions for a long time. Know that things are not the same for end goals for this fic, and the source series. I hope you continue to enjoy A Game Between Gentlemen.
> 
> opalthehappypanda: I'm glad you enjoyed how I portrayed her. This are starting to move quickly, even though it is a lot about plot. Lots of things must be established for the endgame, just like in chess.
> 
> To all of my readers: Enjoy the update, and thank you again for sticking with me.

Cardin took a step back as Velvet leapt over him, kicking the AI in the face hard. It dropped as she flipped away, and he moved in to smash his mace against it's face, grinning at Velvet happily. "Yeah! Ten in a row! We're on a roll!"

Velvet panted as she smiled at him, sweating slightly. "We did good. M-might have to call for a break after the next one, though."

He frowned, moving closer. "Hey, you should sit down. You don't look so hot."

She shook her head, standing upright. "J-just catching my breath. I'm not knackered yet."

Cardin watched her carefully, noting the slight green tint to her skin, shaking his head. "Sorry, but I'm not buying it. Let's call it for now and just relax."

Although it looked like she would protest, Velvet sighed and nodded, sitting hard on the floor, resting an elbow on part of a dismantled AI. Cardin sat across from her, tossing her water bottle at her gently. "Think you're catching whatever's going around?"

Velvet paused mid-drink, carefully hiding her fear. "Huh?"

He shrugged using a towel to wipe away the sweat from his face. "Blake got real sick earlier. Had to go to the infirmary. I heard a few other students are getting sick too."

"Oh!" A surge of relief washed over her. "I should hope not. After all, you still need more work on your blocking." She teased.

Cardin laughed and she couldn't resist in taking a quick picture. She snapped one and grinned at him, both of them bursting out into laughter. She had never thought that he would be such a nice guy under all of the hate and distrust she had seen at first.

"Let's have another go." She giggled, making her way to her feet only to nearly fall as a wave of cold nausea struck, her vision swimming.

"Velvet!" Cardin cried out, moving to help keep her from hitting the floor. "Hey, you good?"

She nodded listlessly, wondering how badly she had over done it. "Yeah... Just a head rush."

"Yeah, well... I don't care. Where's your dorm?" He helped her stand, quickly gathering both of their bags. "I'll walk you there."

"It's... I'm fine, Cardin." She insisted, her stomach rolling.

"I'll carry you to the infirmary instead, then. Your choice."

Velvet internally huffed, letting him help her down the halls to the elevator. "Floor six. Dorm ten." She muttered.

He kept one hand between her shoulder blades as they made their journey, constantly checking to make sure she wasn't swaying too much. It didn't take too long before they stood in front of her dorm, Cardin holding his hand out for her scroll. "I can bloody well manage getting into my dorm." She huffed wearily.

He arced an eyebrow at her as she unlocked the door, taking her bag from him carefully. "I'll be fine, Cardin." Velvet insisted. "Just need to rest up."

Frowning, he nodded, clearly unsure. "Alright. I'll send you a message tomorrow to see if you'll be up for more training tomorrow. You rest up, okay?"

Velvet nodded, stepping into her dorm room with a smile. "Alright. See you tomorrow, Cardin."

He waved casually as the door shut, walking back quietly to his own dorm a few floors below. He was worried about Velvet, and even himself catching that nasty sounding bug that was going around. With a sigh, Cardin entered the elevator and pressed the button for floor two, leaning against the wall before looking at the bag at his feet. Velvet mentioned that there were several reports of possible lynchings going around. Maybe, he should go around town and try to listen for any new information to give her. If nothing else, it would keep the team safe.

* * *

Blake turned and vomited the non-existent contents of her stomach into the bucket beside bed, sweating and shivering as the sound of Sun whimpering caught her attention. She felt terrible for him; he was alone and waiting for the rest of his team to arrive while he suffered through his moon sickness. As much as she wanted to go over and comfort him, it was all she could do not to pass out from exhaustion.

"Neptune... Neptune..."

Who was Neptune? A sibling? A friend? She didn't know, but the next round of debilitating nausea struck, almost causing her to pull on her I.V in her haste to throw up.

For the thousandth time, Blake wished that she had been born a human. They never had to suffer with a curse like she did.

* * *

Yang chewed her thumb nervously as she tried to study, worried about Blake. She had never really seen how bad moon sickness was until that morning, and as she held back Blake's hair, she could see the sweat beading on her skin, trying to soothe away what must have been horrible pain. How did people care so little about others to ignore how the new moon affected weres?

She sat up as another thought struck her; if only Blake got sick, wouldn't the others catch on too? She highly doubted Ruby would care that Blake wasn't human, but Weiss was far more likely to provoke violence. How could she help hide the truth? It wasn't like she could randomly just catch moon sickness like the flu.

Yang grinned, leaping off of her bed. That was it! Maybe she could! Hastily rummaging around, Yang giggled to herself. This was going to be _perfect.  
_

* * *

Blake groaned as the bag for her I.V was changed, seeing Salma flail around in restless nightmares on her own bed worriedly. Sweat was blurring her vision as she heard the door to the infirmary open, but the voices were not what she expected.

"Yang's gotten sick too. S-should I put her with Blake?" Ruby whimpered.

"Wait, she's sick too?" The confusion in the nurse's voice was very clear.

A loud, wet retching sound interrupted the two women, followed by the obvious sound of a stomach being emptied on the floor.

"Ruby," Yang croaked in a worn tone, "Yuh-you should go. You'll g-get sick t-too!"

As if to emphasize, she vomited again.

" _Ewwww..._ Yeah, maybe I should go... Feel better, Yang!" Ruby quickly hurried out by the sound of swiftly fleeing footsteps.

There was a few moments of silence aside from the groaning of her fellow were creatures, and a round of her own heaving.

"I'm n-not sick." Yang sputtered out.

"Really? Because that vomit on the tile would indicate otherwise. I just wasn't told that you were one of-"

"I'm not." Yang cut her off. "I'll be fine in a f-few hours. Just ate some f-food that wouldn't sit well with-" Another round of vomiting halted her words. "-with me."

"You... Are pretending?"

"Oth-therwise, people might get susp-picious that only the same people are always ill around n-n-new moons."

"As soon as it stops, you're going back to your dorm. This is reckless, and unacceptable."

"Please, let me stay th-the night. I'll look over-" Another harsh round of vomiting. "-over Blake. I'm s-sure you could use th-th-t-the help."

Blake started throwing up again, but heard the nurse muttering as she walked over to her. As if disgruntled, she pulled curtains around Blake's bed, and pulled in a small chair with an extra bin next to it, the exited once more. When she returned, she brought a very sweaty, very green looking Yang with her. "Blankets, and fresh fluid bags are under her bed. Cold compresses are by my office. You stay in here with her, and for the safety of the other students, only leave this area to get me, use the restroom, or get a compress. You must leave by five in the afternoon tomorrow. Am I understood?"

Yang offered her a wobbly salute, the sat hard in the chair, her head in her hands. The nurse left the both of them after an indignant huff, the silence only broken by the other ill students.

"Yuh-you're an idiot, Y-yang." Blake hissed.

The blonde, however, had her head in the bin, vomiting slightly. It was going to be a rough night for them both.

* * *

Jaune frowned at Ruby as she sadly ate her tenth cookie. It must be hard having two of her teammates sick at once. At least Weiss was still there.

"So, there we were!" Nora announced as Ren watched her in vague amusement. "Barely holding on as the flood threatened to take us away!"

"She grabbed onto me when she slipped. The river was maybe a foot deep."

"He was terrified, and I had to force back my own fear to calm him."

"She accidentally pushed my head under. Three times. I think I nearly drowned."

Pyrrha giggled softly as Weiss copied notes for Blake, both of them listening to the story of how Nora and Ren nearly died while chasing a squirrel. From time to time, Pyrrha would glance over to Jaune, but each time would slump very slightly before returning her focus to Nora.

"And still, the Grimm beast mocked me. It tormented us with unspeakable horrors!"

"The squirrel started eating the candy bar."

Ruby smiled slightly, Nora standing on her bed menacingly, grinning in a slightly crazed manner. "Steeling every ounce of courage, I finally fought against the beast!" She leapt at Pyrrha tackling her to her bed. "Hiiiyaaaaaaaaa!"

"Nora!" Pyrrha shrieked in surprise.

Nora straddled the much taller girl anyways, tickling her to provoke shrieking laughter. "I will not lose to you, squirrel!" Nora cackled, Pyrrha trying to bat her away.

"Nora! _NORA!_ " Pyrrha rolled around under her, laughing. "I yield, okay!"

She still wasn't used to these displays of friendship, how Nora would casually take her hand and force her to skip when she was too tense, or how Ren would make them all breakfast, but would remember that she loved her pancakes with honey and granola. It was such a nice contrast to everyone treating her like a goddess; to be treated like a teenager with her own silly flaws.

Ren sighed as Nora refused to ease up on Pyrrha, standing and walking over to begin prying her up, and throwing her over his shoulder. He could feel her laughing, placing her on his bed as their friend recovered from the surprise attack. At least her aura was a bubbly pink.

Jaune waited until Weiss looked up from the notes to cast her a wide grin and a wink, only receiving an eye roll and a sound of clear disgust. How come she wasn't thawing for him like his father assured him girls would? What was he doing wrong? He wanted her, so what was he doing wrong to make her want him too?

He was so focused on Weiss, that he missed Pyrrha watching him sadly. He missed how her moved to almost timidly start to reach in his direction before withdrawing again. He missed the hurt in her eyes that flickered for only a few moments before Nora called for her attention, her expression brightening to hide the now vanished pain.

* * *

Cardin fidgeted with his scroll for a few minutes more as he kept waiting for Velvet to reply. This had to be his sixth message to her, and he knew he was probably coming off as a creepy stalker, but he was too worried to care. He checked his messages to her nervously. Nope; it was his tenth message with no reply.

"Dammit." He swore, finally heading to the elevator with a scowl.

He pressed the sixth floor, huffing and grunting in his nervous irritation at how slow the damn contraption was. He had to see if she was okay. She should have messaged him back anything by now. Even just to tell him she was sick. He exited the elevator with a set jaw, knocking hard on the dorm door for team CFVY as his stomach churned. Was she too sick to move? Was she unable to reach the infirmary?

The door slid open to reveal a very confused Coco, looking at the younger student quizzically. "Uh... Can I help you?"

Cardin nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Velvet was supposed to do training with me, but she was really sick yesterday. She's been radio silent today, and I wanted to check on her."

Coco's eyes widened in shock behind her sunglasses. "She got sicker last night. We had to take her to the infirmary. Her scroll is probably under her pillow, or something."

"Oh." He exhaled in relief. "I'm sorry she's worse, but I'm glad she made it to the infirmary."

Coco smirked, lowering her glasses slightly to look up at him. "You brought Velvs back yesterday. I remember hearing you both talking."

"I uhhh... Yeah. Yeah, I did."

She beamed at him. "Well thanks. She can be stubborn if she gets sick. And thanks for coming to check on her, too. I'll be sure to let her know when she gets back."

Cardin smiled and bowed his head, rubbing the back of it nervously. "Thanks. I appreciate it." He turned, walking back to the elevator, feeling a bit better.

"Hey, Cardin." Coco called out firmly.

Cardin halted, turning to look at her curiously.

"Since you came all this way, and everything, and the boys and I are free, wanna have us train with you?" She flashed him a playful grin. "Consider it our thanks for taking care of Velves."

Cardin grinned back at her. "Thanks. I could use the help. Turns out most of my stances are shit."

* * *

Neo swayed as she walked, a vague smile on her lips and a chipper tune in her mind. If not for the blood on her boots and umbrella, she would seem as sweet and innocent as a doll. She stepped lightly over a body as she spun her pink parasol, flecks of red flying from it to the side.

A joyful sounding melody from her pocket caught her attention, carefully extracting it with one hand to read the message. With a silent glee, Neo bounced before sending several emotes of joy and a few party hats back, changing her direction.

She walked casually through the dirty streets, making her way to a grungy building and knocking on the door, her eyes shifting from both brown, to one pink and one white. A tiny click sounded, and Neo pushed open the door, walking gracefully into the very spartan corridor, following the sounds of voices talking quietly.

"When is she coming?" A female voice sighed, as if she had far better things to do.

Neo turned into another hall, then into a rather drab room, seeing Roman and a woman in a fancy red dress inside. Roman turned to see her, beaming at her brightly.

"And there's my little mistress of mayhem!" He praised, Neo skipping over happily, the two embracing for a very brief moment. "Did your mission go well for you?"

Neo nodded excitedly, bouncing up and down like a child, Roman gesturing to their guest while holding her hand. "This is Cinder."

Cinder inclined her head. "Charmed."

"And this little bundle of murder is Neopolitan. She is my personal assistant, and one of the best assassins I have ever met."

Neo smiled politely, her eyes both brown before turning one white. She looked at the Cinder woman casually, gauging her to see her weaknesses. She seemed fairly strong, if not arrogant; but Roman was as arrogant as they came.

"Neo, I want you to help Cinder with her end. The Vytal Festival is coming up." She became visibly excited. "But no killing during the tournament."

Neo pouted openly, acting a bit more like ten that twenty.

"But once that is done, _then_ kill anybody you please. We should have what we need by then, my girl."

Neo giggled silently, her grin cold and full of glee. Oh, how she did love leaving a trail of blood and bodies in her wake. This would be so much fun!


	13. Black Pawn to F5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello, and welcome to another chapter of A Game Between Gentlemen! Chapter 14 is already underway, and I am plotting much humor.
> 
> Warning: Plot! Nightmares! NORA BEING WEIRD EVEN BY NORA STANDARDS! Plot!
> 
> Shout outs:
> 
> Phoenix8221: So far, the chapter 18 wall of doom seems to be taking mercy on this one, but I am also not there yet. I hope and pray that it leaves this one alone. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I look forward to reading all of your reviews!
> 
> opalthehappypanda: Nice Cardin is really odd, I know. But I have a lot planned for him, and I really like writing him so far. Neo will remain just as Neo as always.

Blake sat on the edge of the bed as the nurse took her vitals, looking at the wall in boredom. She felt better since the new moon had finished, and things had gone a lot smoother since the nurse let Yang actually help care for her instead of enforcing the decree of kicking her out that first night.

"Okay. You're good to go. Just do your stretches and you'll be in top form tomorrow." The nurse assured before looking at Yang sternly. "And remember, Miss. Xiao Long; not a word. Her life is on the line."

Yang nodded silently as Blake slid out of the bed, waiting for her quietly. She could make jokes about bed pans, or anything, but the fact that people's lives were at risk for just existing kept her unruly mouth in check. It was a terrible reminder of just how horrible the world was to people who were different.

They quietly left the infirmary and walked down the halls, the silence between them heavy and hanging like an iron curtain. It was almost painfully tangible before Yang had to break it.

"So. That was awful." She simply stated.

Blake nodded. "Yeah. I'm not even halfway to feeling better. But it's going to get better. It always does."

Yang casually wrapped one arm around Blake's shoulders and tugged her in for a one-armed hug as they walked. "I'm glad I could help, though."

Blake was stiff from the contact at first, but gradually she eased, until she rest her head on Yang's shoulder. "So am I. I'm glad to be your partner."

Yang beamed. "Me too."

* * *

Cardin lay on his back on the training room floor, trying to regain his breath from being thrown across the room by Coco. She had hoisted him over her head as if he was a large but liftable chair, and then just _thrown_ him. He could hear them still laughing at him, Fox leaning down to pat the floor to find him.

"Here." Cardin wheezed, taking hold of Fox's hand to pull him to his feet. "Jesus, she's strong."

Yatsuhashi nodded. "She's team leader for a reason, Cardin."

Cardin grinned at them. "I hope I'll be half as strong as her soon."

Coco lowered her glasses to wink at him. "One day, big boy. Until then, drink your milk, and never skip leg day."

The four of them laughed with each other as they sat down, taking up water bottles and chatting during the break. Cardin genuinely enjoyed their company, and was grateful for their updates on Velvet. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he was being a bully, but that punch to the jaw had been a very sharp wake-up call.

Being a Hunter wasn't about being the strongest, or the most feared; it was about being compassionate, being able to bring light to darkness, and protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. He couldn't change the past, but he sure as hell could learn from it, and change his future.

* * *

 _"BLAKE! YANG!"_ Ruby squealed as she opened the dorm room door, rushing over in a blizzard of rose petals to hug them tightly. "Ohhhh, I missed you so much!"

Yang hugged her firmly, Blake gently but awkwardly patting her on the back as Weiss stalked over.

"Took you both long enough. I was starting to really worry." She told them without looking at them directly.

"She was really worried." Ruby giggled.

"Was not!" Weiss snapped back, blushing slightly.

Yang and Blake both looked up in time to see a banner drop down from the ceiling with an almost comical sense of timing, the boldly yet elegantly written words of, 'WELCOME BACK!' clearly from Weiss. Her face burned even brighter red as a silence fell. "Okay, maybe I _was_ a little worried!" She snapped.

Blake chuckled as she sat on her bed, smoothing her hands over the sheets nervously. "Well, we're fine now. No need to worry."

 _"THERE YOU BOTH ARE!"_ A voice boomed from the window, making them all jump.

Nora had somehow managed to scale the wall and was perched very dangerously on the window ledge. She was cupping her hands around her eyes to see in, grinning happily. "Let me _iiiiiiiiin._ " She whined, much like a puppy that was stuck outside.

Ruby bolted over and carefully eased the window open, Nora wriggling her way in. "Whew! That was fun!"

"You could have fallen, you oaf!" Weiss chastised.

Nora waved her hand dismissively, looking at the group. "So, anyone up for movie night? Or maybe Scrable? Oh! Oh! Or maybe we can challenge some other first years to some rounds and totally wipe the floor with them!"

Ruby blinked, but Yang grinned. "I'm a bit tired of four walls, personally. Kinda want to stretch my legs. Maybe we can go out for lunch?"

Nora tilted her head, then beamed back. "I like it! I'll get the others."

At lightning speed, she bolted out the door, leaving the other team a bit dazed. Weiss looked at the others, utterly confused. "So... What just happened?"

* * *

"We're _what?!"_ Jaune balked at the giggling Nora. "But I got all ready for movie night."

Pyrrha smiled at him patiently. "And you look very nice too, Jaune."

He turned to look at her. "You think? 'Cause I was kinda hoping to break the ice with Weiss using my onesie."

Pyrrha wilted very slightly, Nora skipping over to sit behind her, hugging her and propping her chin on a shoulder. The smaller girl grinned at her kindly, Pyrrha smirking and patting her arm in return. "Boys? Can I talk to Pyrrha a minute?"

Ren perked up, arching an eyebrow. "I uhhh... Sure. Jaune?"

Jaune shrugged, picking up his normal clothes. "Yeah. I should probably get changed anyways. We'll just use the common changing rooms."

Pyrrha walked them to the door, waving the both of them off before closing the door, turning around only to be greeted by Nora standing barely three inches in front of her. _"Nora!"_ She shrieked in shock.

"Spill." Nora grinned. "You've got a thing for Jaune. Why aren't you telling him?"

"I... I do not!" Pyrrha stammered, blushing nearly as scarlet as her hair.

Nora didn't budge, simply blinking at her for several moments.

Pyrrha shifted anxiously. "Is it... really that obvious?"

Nora pat her shoulder in consolation. "Only to everyone with eyes. And a brain."

Pyrrha sighed and walked over to her bed, slowly sitting on it as her teammate all but swan-dove onto it. "I just... He doesn't _see_ me that way."

Nora rolled onto her back, moving her legs in the air above her, ignoring the fact that she was wearing a skirt. "He doesn't see you at _all_ , Pyrrha."

Pyrrha's head drooped. "I know. God, I know. I just want him to see me at all. I've never felt invisible before."

Nora suddenly shoved herself to sitting, lunging to embrace Pyrrha firmly. "Maybe... You shouldn't want someone who doesn't know you exist, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha leaned into the embrace, resting her head on Nora's. "I don't want to be treated like an object. I want someone who treats me like a regular person."

Turquoise eyes blinked. "Wanna date Ren with me?" Was the casual question.

Pyrrha sat bolt upright, giving the smaller girl an incredibly confused look. " _What?_ Nora, what are you talking about?"

"Well, Ren doesn't treat you weird. And you know he actually notices you. He's really sweet, and you'd never have to worry about him being a jerk."

Pyrrha's confusion only grew. "But... He's dating _you._ How would that work?"

Nora shrugged absently. "Like, all of us kinda just are what we are now. Teammates. With benefits, I guess. Well, Ren doesn't really do the whole 'benefits' part." She looked at the wall, chuckling to herself sadly. "It's kinda frustrating, actually. Like, you wanna take that last step, but he just never can, and you have to respect that."

Pyrrha was completely baffled. "But... How can you just... offer to share your boyfriend like that? Doesn't he have a say?"

Nora grinned. "Of course he does, you silly sloth. He and I talked about it. So, the watermelon is in your court."

Pyrrha had no idea what to say, so instead she laughed. She knew it was probably not appropriate, but neither was this conversation. "No. No, but thank you, Nora." She finally managed. "I am flattered that you would trust me that much."

Nora grinned at her and pushed herself off of the bed. "Okey dokey, smokey pokey! I'm going to check on the boys. Meet you at the fountain?"

"Alright." Was the polite reply, green eyes watching Nora leave.

Pyrrha sighed as the door shut behind her friend, exhaling softly. Why in the world would Nora even offer such a bizarre proposition? Yes, the three of them were close, but offering to let her date Ren? The fact that she would be also dating Nora was far less troubling; Nora rarely made sense when it came to herself, and honestly, Pyrrha was content to just go with it most of the time. After all, Nora was a great person, kind, bubbly, and while eccentric, always standing up for the right thing. But Pyrrha wasn't into girls at all.

Pyrrha froze in the middle of getting up. She wasn't into girls, was she? Frankly, she had never given love a shot in general, and she had always lived up to the ideal version of herself that everyone had created for her. Did she even know what she liked, or was she just doing what was always expected of her?

* * *

_-Glynda looked around, a bit confused as her team made their way onto the stage to be announced. Zarina helped Arthur as he staggered from his sprained ankle, Lionel bringing up the rear. Something about this seemed off, like it wasn't quite right._

_"Lionel Manecroft, Zarina Woodsman, Glynda Goodwitch, and Arthur Patch." Professor Prince called, smiling at the four first years. "You will be known as, Team GLAZ. Led by, Glynda Goodwitch."_

_Glynda felt her stomach drop as the others praised and grinned at her. She was in charge?! No, it should be Lionel. He was stronger._

_"Excuse me, Sir!" She called out. "There's been a mistake!"_

_As Professor Prince turned, the Beacon auditorium faded, and she was on a ship, flying. Her team was around her still, but slightly older. "No..." She breathed. "Where..."_

_Her eyes flicked around. Not this. Anything but this. "Turn the ship around." She whimpered, then shouted turning to face the cock pit, "Port, turn this bucket of scrap around! We have to leave!"_

_"Hey, Glynda," Lionel's voice was confused. "You alright?"_

_She shook her head, her light blonde hair disheveled. "No, no! Lionel, we have to turn back!"_

_Zarina walked closer, Arthur touching her shoulder as a jolt knocked Glynda to her hands and knees._

_Below her was dirt now, and her clothes were singed, dirty, and torn in places. Glynda knew her hair was a mess, and it made her so dizzy. What happened? Where was she here? Where was her team?_

_She could hear them groaning and whimpering, so she shakily stood, becoming the adult she truly was; no longer a third year who was in over her head, trying to do her best for her team. She couldn't see them, but her hands felt wet, sticky. She looked down, and Glynda watched in horror as red blood spread over her hands, arms, and pooled at her feet._

_"No..." She breathed. "No, no... It's not... It can't be happening... Not again!"-_

_"NOT AGAIN!"_ Glynda screeched as she woke up, fighting her sheets frantically.

She could feel sweat on her pale skin, looking ahead at her wardrobe in the darkness. She was safe in her room, she was an adult. She wasn't there anymore, and it was over. Glynda calmed herself more before swinging her feet over the edge of the bed, reaching out to her night table to grasp her glasses and put them on.

"It's over. What's done is done." She told herself. "Nothing more can happen to them."

Glynda felt a few tears burn her eyes, but she looked at the ceiling to keep them at bay. No matter how many years passed, she still had those terrible dreams, those damn nightmares. She had done all she could, and she knew it, but it never erased the pain, nor the anger.

No matter how many years passed, Glynda still couldn't forgive Ozpin.

* * *

Coco used her handbag to knock Cardin's mace aside, dropping down to evade a punch before using her shoulder to lever him over her body. He flailed wildly as he went over, grunting as he landed on his back.

"You're _still_ leading with the same three steps. You have to mix it up, and damn it, Cardin, your footwork is so sloppy, it needs a slip hazard sign." She scolded. "C'mon. Attempt fifty seven."

Yatsuhashi helped Cardin to his weary feet, patting him on the back. "She's this relentless because she truly wants to help." He murmured to the smaller male.

Cardin huffed. "Yeah. And she's got one hell of a right hook if you piss her off."

Fox chuckled, nodding. "You are personally familiar with it, then?"

"Yeah. I totally deserved it."

Coco tapped her foot impatiently. "Are we going to train, or gossip?"

"Gossiping sounds good to me." Velvet's voice casually teased from the door.

Everyone turned to see her leaning against the wall, a bit pale still, but far better. "Hello, guys." She grinned.

 _"Velves!"_ Both Cardin and Coco called, the male rushing over to envelope her in a firm hug.

"I was really worried about you!" He informed her, releasing the smaller girl.

"I'm fine now, Cardin. A bit poorly still, but I will improve." Was the reply.

Coco cleared her throat behind Cardin, looking at him over the rim of her sunglasses. "Yeah, hi. May I also welcome her? Thanks."

Sheepishly, Cardin backed away from Velvet as Coco pulled her into a firm, close embrace, kissing her tenderly. He felt so awkward just standing there, and casually started to collect his things to give the team some privacy.

"Cardin," Fox called out, "See you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. See you guys then."

As he left, Cardin couldn't help but be jealous of how much CFVY cared about each other. He knew that the rest of CRDL still took great pleasure in hearing about lynchings, and he rarely felt comfortable around them. As team leader, he should be seamlessly interacting with them, but often felt disgusted by their behavior; they were bullies and cowards.

Cardin sighed, tossing his mace lightly. Hopefully, they would see that were creatures weren't evil, that life wasn't all black and white. Maybe humans were the real monsters, and so they saw were creatures as a mirror to project all of that on to. Or maybe the lynchers were simply misguided like he had been. Or, even worse, some humans were so violent, that they were always on the look for an excuse to kill something, no matter the victim.


	14. White Pawn to H4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Howdy y'all! Here's another chapter, and the next is underway. This one is short, I know.
> 
> Warning: Plot? Really just starting to set things up for the next chunk of chapters.
> 
> Shout outs:
> 
> Phoenix8221: I am really, really happy that you are enjoying this fic, and I always am happy to see a review from you each time. I hope you continue to enjoy what I write, and I am really excited about things having to do with both Cardin and Pyrrha. Next chapter will heavily follow them around. Best wishes, and much love!

"Sisters! Friends! Weiss." Ruby began, gleefully slamming an over decorated, and haphazardly filled binder on the table.

Weiss snapped her attention from her book on weapon stances up to Ruby, puffing up indignantly. _"Hey!"_

Ruby ignored her tactfully. "Four score, and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

Yang leaned towards Blake after catching a grape in her mouth from Nora. "This ought to be good."

"A dream that one day, the four of us would come together as a team, and have the most fun that anyone has ever had ever!"

Weiss leaned closer to the poor, abused binder, recognizing the barely visible Schnee logo under several pasted on notes. She looked up at Ruby with a judging glare, hissing, "Did you steal my binder?"

Ruby kept up her oddly political facade. "I am not a crook."

Blake tucked her sketchbook into her bag. "What are you talking about?"

Ruby beamed, clearly excited. "I'm talking about kicking the semester off with a bang!"

Yang grinned cheekily, jutting her thumb at herself. "I always kick my semesters off with a _Yang!_ " She looked around. "Eh? Guys? Am I right?"

An awkward silence stretched on among the four girls, finally broken when Nora threw an apple at the blonde with a loud, "Boooooo!"

Yang was caught off guard, the apple hitting her square in the face. She snatched the fruit of of the table and hurled the apple back with a snarl, catching Nora in the shoulder hard. She felt satisfied until she saw the manic grin grow a bit too manic, and Nora somehow produced a pie. Panic filled her, and she began to gesture wildly, shaking her head. The pie could wind up anywhere! It could even fly out the window and hit Professor Goodwitch; she had no desire to have detention until she graduated.

Nora, however, wound her arm back and threw it anyways, the pie hitting Weiss square in the face; it seemed she had excellent aim, regardless of if it was the intended target or not. All was still as Ren sank his face into his hand, Pyrrha covering her mouth in shock, Jaune just sitting there in horror. She had no idea what to do, and so she pointed at Ren, feeling as guilty as she probably looked.

Weiss felt enraged. She looked at Blake's tray and took up the chocolate pudding cup, throwing it in a blind anger at the other table. The aim was far too wide, and it hit Jaune full in the chest. Once again, all was still, like the calm before the storm as Pyrrha reached over and grabbed Nora's strawberry milk, Ruby grabbing Yang's fruit parfait at the same time.

* * *

"Neptune!" Sun shouted as he bolted over, seeing the stylish teen step off the boat. "Sage! Scarlet!"

Neptune flashed Sun a winning grin as he hugged the team leader, kissing his wild blonde hair. He listened to the content monkey sounds from his lover, smiling all the while. After they pulled apart, Neptune arched an aqua eyebrow at him. "You snuck aboard that cargo ship, didn't you?"

Sun guiltily looked at the docks. "Well, I mean, I _did_ tell you I was thinking about it."

Scarlet adjusted his white shirt, fixing the binder that lay under it casually. "I told you he would."

Sun stuck his tongue out at him. "Guys," Neptune started, "I am _really_ not wanting a fight. Let's get to Beacon and get settled. Sun's probably still a bit ill from the moon sickness. I mean, it was three days ago, but he never is really good for a week."

Sage nodded, his deep voice a low rumble. "I agree. Get settled and rest up. We have to get ready for the tournament soon."

The other three men groaned and sighed, collecting their bags to start the trip to their new dwellings. Hopefully, they would have a bit of fun before the Vytal Festival was in full swing.

* * *

Emerald smoothed out the Haven school uniform top as she looked at her reflection, frowning slightly. Cinder had saved her life, yes, but this whole plan was starting to feel wrong. That Neo girl seemed to be so kind, but something about the mute also terrified her. Mercury was spending more time starting the lynchings, and Cinder was meeting with Roman more and more. She didn't like the idea of killing if it wasn't for the greater good, and she did want to make a difference, but was this really the way?

"My, my. You look ravishing."

Emerald's eyes shifted to see Cinder in the mirror, watching the older woman stalk closer to her. "Good enough to eat, I daresay."

Emerald felt her cheeks flush at the praise. "Thank you, Cinder. You look great too."

Arms wrapped around her body, the familiar warmth pressing against her back, Cinder's lips at her neck. "You are worried again, aren't you?"

Emerald tilted her head to the side as the lips kissed along the collar of her jacket, her hands resting on Cinder's arms. "I just... Is all this really necessary? It seems a bit extreme."

Cinder internally sighed, but tightened her hold on Emerald, the seemingly comforting embrace simply the hold of a predator on it's entranced prey. "I know you don't approve, but yes. We need to be like this, Emerald. How else are we going to topple this system? They only pretend to care about people; you know they cast aside anyone they don't think is worth it."

"We're making a difference, right? We're changing things for the better. That's what you've been telling me."

Cinder casually moved one hand down to Emerald's thigh, then slowly traced upwards, her hand moving under the skirt as the girl whimpered. Such a stupid girl she was. "Yes. We are changing things, Emerald. We are changing things to how they should be."

Emerald braced her hands on the mirror as Cinder stroked her center teasingly, feeling the flush on her cheeks spreading. Cinder had never led her astray, and so far, things were going as promised. She would destroy this corrupt system, and she would help right things. No more starving children, no more pain, or poverty. Things would be fair at last.

A soft moan escaped her as her hips bucked, her weight now slowly being guided to the mirror as Cinder continued her ministrations. Any doubts she had were now the last thing on her mind, pleasure and Cinder's assuring whispers driving them far, far away.

She would make a difference, no matter the cost.

* * *

Neptune walked the halls of Beacon curiously, looking at everything all at once. It was so very different from Haven, and he had already heard several students talking about were creatures in unsettling conversations. _'Guess not everyone understands them.'_ He pondered sadly.

"Hey, Neptune!"

He turned to see Sun rushing towards him, halting to wait. "What's up?"

Sun beamed at him. "I uhh... I wanted to talk to you. Privately. Eee, eee."

Neptune tilted his head curiously. Sun had that tone to the monkey noises that was a bit nervous. This had to be somewhat serious. "I'm listening. Fire away."

"Okay, so, I met this girl." He began, the both of them walking towards the cafeteria. "She's like me. You know."

Neptune smirked. "Another were, eh?"

Sun chirped in agreement. "Yeah, so anyways, she's a really cool person. And I really want to get to know her. And I didn't want to say it in front of Sage and Scarlet, because, you know, they can be so-"

"So Sage and Scarlet about things?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Sun could faintly hear some commotion from the dining hall, but chose to ignore it. "So, I was really hoping to be her friend, and all. Well, really all of them are cool. But I need you to be cool. You can handle that, right?"

Neptune halted in his tracks, giving his lover a cocky grin. "Dude."

"Fair enough." Sun stated. "Oh! This is the place." He assured himself, reaching for the door.

Instead, it flew open as students rushed out, the crowd clearly fleeing from something. The duo peered in and entered, seeing exactly what had caused the mad dash to escape. In the far end was a veritable fortress of tables, team JNPR standing amid them formidably. Before them was team RWBY, looking more than ready to fight. Both teams were covered in variously hued stains; the tell-tale signs of a food fight turned all out war.

Both of them looked at the table fortress as Nora cackled ominously, singing out childishly from the very top, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

Ruby stepped forwards, a carton of milk in her hand as she defiantly glowered at the other team. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be-" Ruby crushed the carton dramatically in her hand, _"-DELICIOUS!"_

The other three food-smattered members of her team cheered behind her, all four rushing towards the very unstable looking 'castle'.

"Off with their heads!" Nora declared, team JNPR all hurrying to find make-shift weapons to ward off the invaders.

* * *

Glynda was sitting at her desk, relaxing for the first time in who knew how long. Finally, all the papers were graded, all of the rooms were in order, and every student was _actually_ behaving.

Or so she had thought.

An entire group of teens wearing far too much of their lunches bolted past her office, giggling about a food fight going on. Glynda closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath in through her nose, bracing her hands on the arms of her chair as her irritation steadily rose in her chest. She had a very good idea of who could possibly be behind the latest disaster.

"If I have to fix that damn lunch room _one more time..._ " She growled as she rose to her feet, stalking towards the cafeteria with an infuriated purpose.

Students that she passed could feel the waves of controlled anger rolling off of her, giving the deputy headmistress a very wide birth. Glynda gripped her riding crop as the memories of her team starting many a food fight filled her mind, the stern expression of Professor Heart as they were forced to clean it all up without using their semblances making her huff. Was this how the other woman felt as she constantly tried to keep up with the wrecking ball GLAZ turned out to be?

She stormed into the hall and past two boys to see it utterly destroyed; it looked almost identical to one of her team's own rampages. With a very furious flourish of her crop, the room's contents began to shudder and shift, the food melting away to nothing. Tables lifted from the floor, chunks of concrete returned to the walls, and where the hell had that swordfish even come from? On second thought, Glynda decided that she really didn't want to know.

The last table shuffled back into place as the ceiling finished repairing, Glynda taking another slow breath in through her nose as she once again righted herself. The seven students before her sheepishly shuffled as the stains on their uniforms vanished. "Children," she began, trying to keep calm, " _please_ do not play with your food." She had been just as bad once, but things had changed; life had made her colder.

Yang burst through the roof violently, crashing to the floor along with a heap of rubble. Glynda growled in frustration, but Ozpin moved behind her. "Let it go." He urged.

She turned to him, frowning. "They're _supposed_ to be the defenders of the world."

He lift his coffee casually, inclining his head. "And they will be, but right now, they're still children." He watched the two teams laughing and smiling. "So, why not let them play the part?"

He turned, taking a sip before speaking once more, his tone edged with the bitterness of regret. "After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever."

Glynda watched his walk away, wilting slightly as she looked back to the children before her. She could feel the pain and sorrow burning her heart slowly. "Don't I know it..." She whispered to no one in a melancholy voice, then walking back out.

Blake had a high chance to die before year four from riots, and the others would risk their lives on every mission they would be sent on. How could she tear away what little they had left of childhood from them? They should smile now, while they still could, before the endless parade of funerals began.


	15. Black Pawn to G5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Another chapter updated, and sixteen is already underway! So far, this one is doing really, really well. I think I have updated it three times this month alone. Really excited for what's to come, and I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do.
> 
> Warning: Plot!
> 
> Shout outs:
> 
> Phoenix8221: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for always making my day with your reviews! I really have to admit that you are a major driving force in me writing this. This chapter, and the next, have lots of Cardin and Pyrrha, but the next one won't be focusing mostly on them. I really need to flesh out their character developments, as I feel the show really dropped the ball on them. As for what that ship would be called? Maybe I'm Sorry For the Mess? I have no idea. If you think of one, I would love to hear it. I hope you enjoy this one!

Cardin was hacking up what felt like both his lungs as Yatsuhashi slapped his back, trying to knock free the last of the water. Velvet was blushing and hiding her face behind the beret that she had taken from the impishly laughing Coco. Fox was shifting slightly, clearly uncomfortable.

The moment he could speak again, Cardin half coughed out, _"ALL OF YOU?!"_

Coco giggled, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "Oh... Oh, that was priceless." She managed to control her laughter at last. "Yes Cardin, _all_ of us are dating each other. Even Hashi and Fox."

Cardin blushed at the very odd notion. "Just... Wow. I thought you dorks were close before." He gave them a stupid grin. "Whole new level of team bonding, huh?"

Fox shrugged. "That bother you? I mean, knowing?"

Cardin sat in thought, then shook his head. "Nah. Not really. I'm a traditional kinda guy. I just want to meet the right girl to get to know. But whatever floats your boats, you know?"

Velvet peeked out from behind the hat, her face burning a bright red. "You're not worried?"

His face screwed up with confusion after wiping it with a towel. "Why would I be? You guys are my friends, and while I might be straight, it doesn't bother me. I'm comfortable enough to take a few slaps to the ass. Doesn't change me."

The four second years all laughed with him, Velvet pausing long enough to take a picture before they settled back down for their break. It didn't take long for Cardin to ask a question about the new information, however.

"Doesn't it get confusing, though? I mean, that many people, and it might as well be a game of Twister."

Coco tapped her chin. "Well, if we're all pretty worn out, then yeah. It gets pretty funny. But in the middle of things, it goes smoothly. Except for that one time Yatsuhashi's-"

Cardin clapped his hands over his ears, "Nope! Don't need to know!"

Everyone laughed at him again, Yatsuhashi nudged him with his elbow, almost toppling the younger boy. "We thought you'd be a lot worse at finding out."

Cardin sighed, looking at the ceiling. "Yeah, well, I've changed. A lot of what I thought was true, is a lie. Besides, my father and step mother have been married miserably for over thirteen years. Straight, rigidly set in their old fashioned ways, and they hate anything not 'normal'. If normal makes them so miserable, why do I care what makes you four happy?"

Coco leaned over and scruffled his hair. "Well, you're alright in our books. Don't start being a dick again, though."

Cardin barked out in laughter. "You kidding? I don't want you to slug me again!"

Velvet scuffed her armored shoe along the floor, blushing deeply. "But it's not always an orgy, you know. Usually just two of us kind of... Politely reserve the room while the other two have a date. Mostly it's just cuddling for movie nights."

For some reason, the idea of the team all snuggled up and watching a cheesy movie made Cardin grin. "You guys are a bunch of dorks, you know that?"

* * *

Pyrrha watched Jaune poorly practice on an acoustic guitar that he must have borrowed from another team. "Working on a serenade?" She kindly inquired.

Jaune looked up at her, his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration. "Huh? Oh, yeah." He grinned at her widely. "Well, more like a question to music. But I suck at music."

She chuckled softly. "Well, I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly. When do you need to be ready by?"

"Two weeks. I'm asking out Weiss to the dance."

Pyrrha couldn't help but flinch as if she'd been slapped. "You know, Jaune, there _are_ other girls, and Weiss doesn't seem to care for you that much."

He shrugged her concern off. "All I need to do is be confident, like my father always said. Girls go for men with confidence, and I like her. This will win her over, I'm sure. I'm sure she's just playing hard to get."

"I see." She felt her eyes burn, but she forced the unshed tears back. "Well, I'll let you get back to your practice."

She turned and left, trying to push away the dreaded feeling of heartache. She had no right to be hurting; how could she be jealous when she had never told him how she felt? Yet the pain was there, bubbling away just below the surface. Why couldn't she at least tell him? Would the sting of rejection really hurt more than she did now? At least he would know, and could tell her yes or no.

_"Maybe... You shouldn't want someone who doesn't know you exist, Pyrrha."_

Nora's words wiggled into her mind, making her sigh sadly. Since when was Nora the voice of reason for anything? Pyrrha had no choice but to admit that it was fairly sound advice, which worried her slightly. But the thought of her teammate brought back the memory of the entire conversation between them, making her blush faintly.

Could she date Ren and Nora? Did she even _like_ girls? If she did, did that mean she was straight, or gay? Or was she something in the middle? And most importantly, _how_ did she know if she was anything other than straight?

Pyrrha chewed the tip her gloved thumb in nervous thought, her brow furrowed. It wasn't like she could ask one of her professors, and talking to her own team was too awkward to consider. No, if she was going to discuss sexuality, she was going to have to talk to the most sexually open person she knew; luckily for Pyrrha, they were already friends.

With new found determination, and a healthy amount of embarrassment, Pyrrha began searching for Yang.

* * *

Yang had found a bench under a tree to lay on as she read her 'textbook', nursing her sore ribs. Weiss had accidentally left her back open to Tori during sparring, and so Yang had dove in the way of the attack. They had still managed a victory, but she was bruised all along her side, and so she was happily relaxing on the bench, hiding a book of very attractive, very naked people against her textbook in case a professor walked by.

"Yang? Are you busy?" She heard Pyrrha inquire softly, looking up to grin at her.

"Heya Pyrrha. I'm just Yangin' out here. Need something?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes with a humored smirk. "I just wanted to talk to you. If you have time." She fidgeted. "It's kind of... private and important. And I didn't know who else to talk to."

Yang tossed her textbook into her bag, sitting up and giving the now cleared seat beside her a sweeping gesture. "I _always_ have time for friends." She waited until the taller warrior sat. "So, spill. What's up?"

Pyrrha's cheeks felt hot as a blush crept up her face. "Yang, I ummmm... How long have..." She closed her eyes, as if by doing so, she was free of the shame of asking her questions. "How did you know you liked girls? How did you figure it out?"

Yang's lilac eyes widened before a familiar playboy grin broke onto her lips. "Pyrrha, my dear. Trying to broaden your horizons?" She waggled her eyebrows. "I'm touched."

Pyrrha hadn't realized she could turn such a deep red, sputtering and shaking her head wildly. " _No!_ No, no! Yang, _please,_ be serious! I just... need advice about things."

Yang nodded, now quite serious for her friend, her voice soft to keep their conversation private. "Well, I figured it out when I was about... fourteen? Yeah, about then." She put her arms over the back of the bench. "I just stopped seeing women I found attractive as just friends. I started wanting to date them too. Dad was cool with it, as long as I was honest with people if I wasn't serious about a relationship. Some people always know if they aren't straight. Others find out along the way."

Pyrrha frowned. "Anything else that helped you find a concrete answer?"

Yang tapped her chin. "Well, I used to sneak onto Dad's computer and go to certain... _sites._ Those really confirmed it for me. I really didn't care what was between someone's legs if I was interested in 'em."

Pyrrha tilted her head. "Sites?"

Yang impishly grinned. "Yeah. You know. _Those_ sites." When the confused and blank expression failed to yield to one of understanding, Yang gasped, almost jumping off of the bench in shock. "You mean you've _never_ watched _porn?!_ "

Pyrrha's face was as scarlet as her hair, frantically trying to hush Yang. " _Shhhhh! Shhhh! Yang,_ quiet, _please!"_

Yang was gleefully giggling, digging through her bag for a paper and pencil. "Ohhh, this is so exciting! Oh, oh, I _gotta_ give you some sites!" She finally extracted a journal and pencil, jotting things down. "First, is pornhub. It's easy to use, and tons of different things. Also, it's free. Always a plus."

"Yang, this is embarrassing _!"_

"Next, I think Kink would be good, but _only_ if you found you liked it on the first one." She looked over the pages seriously at the hand-covered face of Pyrrha. "It's just as kinky as the name implies. So, _only_ if you are into it."

Pyrrha sank in her seat, as if trying to hide from her growing shame.

"Okay, Spankwire is kinda good, but it's clunky. Not my first choice. And finally, we have..." The fact that Yang blushed vaguely should have made Pyrrha worry. "We have a site that I personally have not gone to-", Pyrrha _seriously_ doubted it, "-but, I hear that it's great for folks who like it. TruePet. It's got werecreatures who wear fake ears, and tails, and stuff while they bone, and stuff. Very niche. Good stuff if you're into that. From what I hear, anyways."

Pyrrha was fairly sure that her entire body was red from her embarrassment, finally looking up at Yang with a mortified scowl. "You aren't honestly suggesting that I... Go onto these... these..."

Yang winked at her. "Yes. Yes I am. Just take it slow, start off vanilla, and just watch a few. It will help you figure out what you like. If you focus on guys all the time, then congratulations! You're straight! If you find that you also like watching the women, then welcome to the club!"

Yang quickly wrote something else on the paper before tearing it out and handing it to the still blushing Pyrrha. "I wrote down how to also open an incognito web page on your scroll. Now," She pulled the taller girl to her feet, "you go and start exploring! And have fun, and all that stuff!"

As Pyrrha walked away in a daze, Yang sniffed and wiped below her eye. "They grow up so fast."

* * *

Cardin walked behind Yastuhashi as Fox took up the rear, Coco and Velvet in the front. Thanks to his stupidly intolerant teammates, Cardin had been able to give CVFY a tip about a possible lynching. "You're _sure_ it was by the dust shop?" Coco pressed, halting her team under a tree in range of the shop in question.

He nodded. "That's what they said. Something about crying wolf, too. Might be a werewolf that's the target."

She nodded grimly, noticing that there was a small throng of people starting to gather next to the shop. "Well. Either it's a group of friends, or we just beat them to their mark."

Velvet nudged Cardin, pointing at a very stocky young man that was walking towards the shop, a soccer ball tucked under his arm. "He's the were." She whispered.

"How do you know?"

Yatsuhashi smirked. "She just... knows. Always does."

Cardin grinned at her. "That's pretty cool." His attention turned back to the man as he moved even closer towards he gaggle of people, noticing how he had become very wary of the throng.

All at once, the male cried out in pain, gripping his chest as he dropped to his knees. In horror, the five students watched him writhe, fur ripping along his face, a terrified snarl of pain escaping his lips.

"I knew it! Bastard's a monster! Get him!" Someone in the crowd called out, the mob descending on the partially changed man.

"Shit!" Coco cried out. "Let's go!"

Cardin hurried along side the others, his mace freed up as Velvet jumped over a few of the attackers, kicking one in the back. Yatsuhashi barreled through the crowd like a bull, Fox helping Cardin knock a path for Coco to move through.

"Beacon hunters and huntresses!" She shouted, watching the mob start to break. "Clear out, or you will be forced to do so, and taken in for questioning!"

Cardin watched as the mob properly broke, moving to keep up his guard as the others guided him towards to battered werewolf.

"Please, I don't want trouble..." The bleeding male whined, his eyes full of terror. "I didn't do anything..."

Velvet leaned down, nodding to him. "Shhh. It's alright. We know. What's your name?"

"Daniel. Daniel Berrows." He grunted as fur receded, his face contorted in pain. "Th-they tried to kill me..."

Coco sat beside him. "Yeah. Do you know what happened? What made you start changing?"

He chuckled darkly. "Well, not the moon."

Cardin watched as his friends calmed the stranger, feeling sympathy for Daniel. He had been minding his own business, just living his life when the mob had struck. How could he have ever thought that weres had deserved the lynchings?

"Coco, let's get him to Beacon. Ozpin might be able to help him." Fox propmted.

"Whaddya say, Danny?" She inquired. "Want to get looked at? Our headmaster might be able to help too."

He shifted, wiping away dried blood from his nose. "Yeah. Not safe for me anymore, anyways. Soon as word gets out, I'm a dead man."

Cardin's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Fox put his hand on the armored shoulder. "They'll hunt him. Day, night, it doesn't matter. They know his face, and they think he's a monster."

"That's... _Horrible_." Cardin breathed.

"That's just how it is for..." Velvet seemed to halt herself before finishing, "For them."

Yatsuhashi scanned the area cautiously. "Do you have family in the area?"

Daniel shook his head. "Moved here on my own. Thankfully."

Coco helped guide the injured male towards the school, but Cardin stayed behind, trying to find anything that could be useful. What had made Daniel change like that? As he picked through a few knocked over piles of odd and ends, Cardin saw a grey and black figure hurry away. He tried to find them, but in the instant it had taken to look up, whoever it had been was gone.

For some reason, the figure left him with a terrible unease, causing him to carefully rejoin the others.

* * *

"Penny!" Ruby called out, seeing a familiar ginger hairstyle.

Penny turned to see a quickly approaching Ruby beaming at her, waving back nervously. She was torn between running over to hug her, and scurrying away as she had been advised by Father. Instead, she simply remained rooted to the spot, looking as uncomfortable as a long tailed Grimm in a room full of rocking chairs.

"Penny, where did you go after the docks? I was worried about you!"

"I... I umm..." Penny hiccuped. Then hiccuped again. "I don't know this 'Penny' you are referring to."

Ruby gave her a disbelieving glance. "Penny? What are you talking about? It's me. Your friend, Ruby."

Penny sighed, hiccuping. "I'm sorry, but I can't talk about that night. I got into trouble."

Ruby winced. "I'm sorry about that, Penny. Anyways, what brings you here?" She gestured at the school courtyards around them. "Planning on coming to Beacon?"

She shook her head. "I'm here for the upcoming tournament."

Ruby suddenly brightened. " _Oh! Oh!_ You should meet our friends!"

Before Penny could think to protest, she found herself getting dragged towards the school, not having the heart to stop the smaller girl. She quickly halted in front of the rest of Ruby's team and four other teens, all of them smiling at her.

"Penny, this is Pyrrha."

The tall woman with scarlet hair smiled and inclined her head. "How do you do?"

"This is Nora."

The rambunctious girl grinned devilishly. "Hehe, wanna spar?"

A boy with black hair accented with magenta placed his hand soothingly on her shoulder. "Nora, please."

Ruby indicated him. "That's Ren."

He nodded to Penny, and she failed to miss the brief flash of a Tranquility semblance coming from him, and wrapping around the smaller girl who calmed instantly. Ruby then motioned to a blond boy fumbling with his weapons, nearly dropping his sword on his foot. "And that's Jaune."

"H-hey." He nervously stammered, collecting his weapon.

Penny offered them all a cheerful salute, "Salutations!"

Yang gave Penny a wave before looking at Blake in concern. She had been staying up fairly late at night, and keeping more to herself than usual. Perhaps she and the others should stage an intervention soon. The bags under those golden eyes were telling of significant amounts of stress, and she had a feeling that Blake could pack all of her carefully guarded secrets into them. If they weren't careful, she could collapse from exhaustion just before the full moon, and then her secret would be exposed.

Something had to be done, and soon.


	16. White Pawn takes Black Pawn G5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I had such a block with this one because I was trying to add more than it needed. This chapter is a bit more mature in many ways.
> 
> WARNING: Contains porn, porn language, porn lines, blood, death, and porn things. Read discretion is advised.
> 
> With love,  
> Korrupted.
> 
> Shoutouts:
> 
> Phoenix8221: Oh the ruining you shall see. Things are starting to build up now to something big. And I hope that you'll keep enjoying the ride. I look forward to your next review.

In the dark of his room, Cardin sat on his bed, looking out the window to watch teams all doing things together. He didn't feel comfortable in his own team anymore, and he could barely bring himself to lead them. Who he had been during initiation was very different to who he was now; and he liked who was now. Why should he change back into the asshole not even he could stand?

"There you are." Lark huffed from the door.

Dove pushed his way into the room, followed by Russell. "We need to talk."

Cardin took in a deep breath through his nose, looking at his team with a mild glower. "I'm listening."

Lark closed the door as Russell approached. "We heard you were at the lynching last week."

Dove folded his arms, frowning. "You stopped them from killing that monster."

"Yeah. I did." Cardin stated coldly.

"What the hell, man? How can you defend those monsters?" Lark's voice was exasperated.

Cardin felt his entire body stiffen in anger. "He had been doing nothing wrong. He had just been walking, and he got attacked for that. We're _Hunters_ , damn it. It's our job to defend people."

 _"Exactly!"_ Dove sighed, his face full of rage. "We are supposed to defend _people!_ "

Cardin stood, his aura almost visible to the naked eye, pulsing from his body like an extra layer of armor. " _All_ people! That includes the weres." He let out a frustrated chuckle. "Christ. Yes, some of them are bad. And so are some humans."

Lark and the others all shifted, glaring at him. "You need to figure out which side you're on, Cardin." He ground out. "We're fighting for humanity, and defending people. What about you?"

For a moment, Cardin's resolve wavered. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he was on the right side. But the facts and things he learned came back, strengthening his resolve once more. This road wouldn't be easy, but it was what was right. "So am I. And I will defend all of the defenseless from harm. Even if it's from my own team."

He shoved past the other three, moving for the door, his hand already typing on his scroll.

_**Coco, I need to let off some steam. Can we spar?** _

He sent the message, feeling the rage boiling just below the surface. He was doing what was right; why couldn't the rest of his team understand that the real monsters looked at them everyday in the mirror?

* * *

Pyrrha sat on her bed, not entirely sure what to do with herself. She hadn't felt particularly well when the others had wanted to go out and walk the town, but now she was feeling better. Her red silk nightgown was soft against her skin, her hand moving to gently pull the strap that had fallen from her freckle covered shoulder. What was there really to do aside from remain there and ensure a good recovery?

Her thoughts drifted to the piece of paper that was securely hidden in her bag, blushing at what was written on it. Pyrrha knew that the others would be away from the next several hours, and that would give her ample time to watch those videos as Yang had suggested. But, could she even bring herself to do it? She really wanted to find out about her own sexuality; not for anyone else, but for herself. Was she really straight, or had she simply molded herself to fit what had been expected?

Determined, she stood and marched herself to her bag. Her hands shook as she searched for the paper, her face a very respectable red as she pulled it free.

"What am I doing?" Pyrrha hissed at herself, turning even redder.

She knew she didn't have to do this, and part of her really didn't want to. But the rest of her was far too morbidly curious about it, and so she went to her dresser and pulled free her earbuds, then quickly rushing to lock the door, turning off the lights. If it was dark, Pyrrha figured that she could hide her shame.

In a few quick strides, Pyrrha pulled both curtains firmly shut, then crawled into her bed. For some reason, she still felt far too exposed, and drew the covers over her entire body, sitting knees to her chest under her very snuggly shield. Carefully, she plugged in her earphones, jamming them into her ears, and turned on her scroll, already blushing impossibly at what she was about to do. Pyrrha double checked that she opened the incognito window, then checked twice more, almost losing heart to type in the first damningly incriminating porn site into the browser bar.

"You can do this." She told herself, lips set in a thin line of determination, punching the words pornhub into the browser, and feeling quite pleased with herself when she hit the search button.

Only to get immediately bombarded by images of very naked people in the midst of very lewd acts, a popup ad assaulting her ears with the shrill moans of women.

"Oh my goodness!" She screeched, dropping her scroll in shock and covering her burning face with her hands.

The sounds were relentless as she balled up more in mortified shame, certain she was blushing down to her shoulders. However, the moans made her feel a bit heady, but that was probably the adrenaline, and nothing to be bothered with. "P-pull yourself together, Pyrrha." She stammered in a shaking voice, a male voice joining those of the women. Just how many people were in that ad?!

Nervously, Pyrrha picked her scroll off of the bed, and dismissed the ad, once again met with far more naked people than she had ever seen before in her life. Where did one even start with watching these videos? She was trembling with nerves, but managed to find the category section, almost dropping her phone again.

"Oh my goodness!" There was no way that was real, he had to have been CGI enhanced to be that big.

Emerald hues darted from category to category, not lingering too long as to avoid looking at the images; she would never think of 'cream pies' the same way again. Stumbling across Verified Amateur perked her interest, thinking perhaps this was were people who were new went to watch things. It would make sense with a title like that. Hesitantly, her finger hovered over the screen as she whispered, "I'm sorry." to no one, except for her now lost innocence, tapping the icon.

Her mouth hung open, realizing that she had been very, _very_ wrong. These were not videos for people new to porn, but made by people who were members of the site. Her eyes were drawn to one particular thumbnail, moving her face even closer, squinting to try and see the very busty blonde woman better. She looked a lot like...

_"YANG?!"_

Sure enough, Hang-with-Yang was her friend in a very compromising video, co-starring two well-endowed men, and another two women. The more her finger hovered on the video icon, the more it went through the slideshow for the video. She only clicked the video long enough to give it a thumbs up, -anything to help a friend-, and then returned to the category section.

How was she supposed to do this?!

* * *

Blake tiredly poured over the books in front of her, drinking a large cup of catnip tea to keep awake. While for humans it was more of a digestive and nervous aid, for werecats, it was like a shot of pure adrenaline. She had to figure out why the White Fang had been helping a human like Roman Torchwick. It made zero sense to her, and someone like him would have been hunted by them.

_"Stop it, Blake."_

The growled words halted her entirely. She looked around wildly, almost shaking in fear. No, it couldn't be. She had been careful, just like she had promised. They couldn't have found her, it was impossible. She had left nothing to link her to Beacon, nothing to trace.

She drank more of her tea, shaking her head. She was just being paranoid, that was all. No one had found her.

_"Kill the were-bitch!"_

Blake stood quickly, Gambol Shroud unsheathed and ready to fire. A few students looked at her in confusion, hurrying away as she lowered her weapon once again. She could have sworn she had heard someone, that they were right in the library with her.

"Blake?"

Blake whipped around at Velvet's voice, looking at her in a haze. "Blake, are you alright? You look pale."

Slowly, Blake nodded, sitting down heavily. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just thought I heard something I didn't."

Velvet sat next to her, head tilting in concern. "You... You were part of the Fang, weren't you? I've seen the scars when we change, and you're acting like someone is hunting you, and more so than most of... our kind."

Blake's lips were set in a thin, grim line, nodding. "I was. That was a long time ago, though. I left that horrible lie of a life."

"What was it like?"

Amber eyes slid shut, her right hand resting on her forehead. "It was horrible. At first, we just protested. We just had rallies, and we were peaceful. But then, things changed, and we became monsters." Haunted eyes met worried ones. "We... I killed people. I only did it if I had no other choice, but it was murder nonetheless."

Velvet placed her hand on Blake's shoulder. "Blake, you need rest. You've had four cups of catnip already. When did you sleep last?"

"Five days ago, I think? Might have been four. It's blurring together."

Velvet squeaked, hissing in a low whisper, "Blake, the full moon is in _five days!_ Your sleep deprivation could bloody well get you killed! I know you're knackered, and I know hallucinations are starting up." She was met with an incredulous glare. "I saw you jump twice earlier, Blake. What's got you worked up?"

Blake crumpled with a sigh. "Something to do with the White Fang. I have to figure out what, though."

Velvet huffed. "Well, don't bloody die doing it. Please, get a few hours rest. You can hop to it again after."

Blake nodded, looking at her half finished tea before Velvet snatched it away. "And _this_ is getting binned. Go rest. As your mentor, I am telling you to rest."

Blake growled in her throat, but quickly calmed, chuckling. "You know, you've changed, Velves."

"Me? You hallucinating again?"

Blake smirked wearily. "No, really. You've changed. You've gotten more confident, more sure of yourself. I like it."

Velvet gave her a wry smile. "Well, I have been around my friends. Cardin has been helping me be stronger on my own."

"Cardin, huh?" Blake stood, swaying slightly before righting herself. "Well, whoever is helping you, I approve. Don't change back, okay? You owe it to yourself to be strong on your own two feet." After a moment, she huffed out a soft laugh. "I'm glad to be your friend."

She quietly walked away, smiling softly to herself. Cardin was friends with Velvet, huh? Crazier things have happened, and it was having a very positive effect on the older girl. And it wasn't like Coco wouldn't dismember him if he started doing anything wrong.

She suddenly felt incredibly disoriented, staggering in the hall, her head swimming violently. She forced herself to remain standing, dredging up training she hadn't used since her time in the White Fang to remain alert and cognitive, even under severe sleep deprivation. Had she really gotten this rusty with it? She used to be able to go almost a week without sleep and be unfazed.

A form raced past her, Blake's breath catching as she recognized it as her younger self, the mask of the White Fang fixed securely to her face. The vision looked around a corner, and Blake was unable to help but follow the hallucination.

The young Blake peeked around another corner, then dashed on, almost running into a human. Blake watched as they both leveled their weapons at each other, neither daring to even speak as they waited for the other to make one wrong move. "Drop your weapon, and you won't die, human." She growled out.

Blake remembered this moment; it was one of her first raids under Grant's new White Fang. The human remained rigid, watching her cold, lifeless mask. "Why? So you'll kill an unarmed man?"

The young Blake snarled slightly. "Did I not just say that I would let you live? Drop it, and I swear I will not harm you. You can run, you can _live._ "

"No." Blake whispered to her past self shaking her head. "He's just as scared as you. It won't go like you want."

"Like I can trust your kind!" His grip tightened.

Blake knew the hallucination was scared, but there was nothing she could do to stop the tension, watching helplessly as the young were tried to move towards the door and flee, only to have the man interpret that as a threat. He fired his weapon, the round tearing through her left bicep. Blake's aim proved to be more true when she fired Gambol Shroud, striking him in his forehead before using her clones to run.

"Wait. _Wait!"_ She called after herself, quickly running through the halls and pushing past confused students in an attempt to catch up.

She found the hallucination sitting against the wall on the floor, yanking off the mask to look at the bleeding wound. Blake could see tears of pain running down her cheeks, holding the arm gingerly. Footsteps raced closer, Gambol Shroud raised and leveled at Adam as he raced around the corner, holding up his hand to ease her fear.

"Blake? Blake, what happened?"

He knelt down taking charge of the arm with the greatest of care. "H-human shot me. I told him he could go if he dropped his weapon. But he shot me!"

He snorted angrily, looking around. _"Where is he?!"_

She gripped his coat, shaking her head wildly. "D-dead. I shot him." She seemed to go even paler. "I... I shot someone. I killed... I killed someone. Oh, God, Adam... I _killed_ someone..."

He held the young Blake as she descended into tears, using his aura to close the wound and force her to sleep, the vision fading entirely.

Blake blinked several times, looking around to get a bearing on her surroundings; somehow she had ended up right by her dorm. With a weary sigh, she trudged to the door and opened it, a bit startled at seeing her teammates all standing and talking. "Oh. Did I miss something?" She inquired in confusion.

Yang shook her head. "No. We actually wanted to talk to you."

A frown crossed Blake's lips, quickly becoming guarded. "About what?"

Weiss leapt to her feet, then sprang up upon a chair, pointing at her accusingly. _"You_ have been hiding something!"

The room was silent as she precariously balanced on the back and seat of the chair, then swiftly hopped off, shuffling over. "You promised us that you would trust us. You promised _me_ that you could trust me." Weiss' eyes betrayed the far glimmers of hurt. "Please, don't break your promise without trying to trust me. I'm... We're worried about you. You don't sleep much, I haven't seen you actually eat in two days, and Ruby had Oobleck asking her about you because apparently your grades are declining. Please, talk to us."

Blake sighed and rubbed her eyes, trying to think of how to properly word things to keep herself safe. "At the docks, remember how I fought the White Fang?" Everyone nodded. "Well, it wouldn't make sense for them to follow someone like Roman's orders. He was cruel. I _have_ to figure out the truth."

"Why couldn't you tell us that?" Ruby pipped up from her bed.

"Because I didn't want you to worry. Because this is something I have to do myself."

Weiss stiffened. "We can help you. Clearly you're exhausted."

"Guys, if she needs to do this on her own, we need to respect that." Yang interrupted before looking at Blake. "But she's right. You do look like shit."

Blake scowled, barely suppressing a hiss. "Gee. Thanks."

However Weiss refused to let up. "But if she would let us, we could evenly distribute the workload."

"Weiss, I can do this myself."

Weiss folded her arms over her chest. "You need a day to relax. Let's go to the dance this weekend, okay? Bring a date, stay with us, I don't care. Just take some you time."

Blake growled low in her throat. "I'm fine, Weiss. I can't afford to go to some stupid dance right now. I don't need some 'me time'."

"Really? Because those bags under your eyes could store the entirety of the Schnee Dust Company's main storage facility inventory."

Blake growled softly, throwing up her hands. "I'm going. I'll be back later, but I just... I need space."

Weiss reached out as her roommate turned heel and stormed out, regretting how much she had pushed. Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth closed? She always seemed to accidentally shove Blake away the more she tried to reach out and help.

A hand touched her shoulder, and she turned to look up at Yang's reassuring smile. "You meant well. Just need to work on your tact with her."

Weiss nodded. "I just hope she's okay. The full moon is getting really close, and I just don't want her to exhaust herself."

A knock on the door made everyone perk up. "Maybe that's her." Ruby whispered hopefully, Weiss quickly striding over to open the door with a smile.

Only to have the sight of Jaune holding a guitar in the place of who she had been hoping for, her smile evaporating swiftly.

 _"Weiiiiiiss!"_ He sang out as he strummed the strings.

Weiss narrowed her eyes and shut the door promptly, already having told him politely to leave her alone twice times this week; and it was only Monday!

"Oh, come on, open the door!" He paused. "I promise not to sing."

Weiss glanced at the other two, glowering at them urging her on. With a very soft growl of frustration, she opened the door again, fighting back the urge to slap him,when he started singing immediately.

"I _liiiiied!_ " He gave her his best, cheesiest grin. "Weiss Schnee, will you accompany me, to the dance, on..." He seemed to be trying to remember the exact day, _"Sunday!?"_

Weiss simply stood there, watching him boredly. "Are you done?"

He shrugged absently. "Yes?"

"No." She answered firmly, shutting the door in his face once again.

When she turned around, Weiss saw both Ruby and Yang staring at her in shock. "What?" She seethed.

Ruby tripped over her own shoes as Yang gestured at the door. "And _that_ is why they call you the Ice Queen." She stated.

Weiss reared her head back as if she had been slapped. " _Excuse_ me?"

Yang nodded at the door. "He was just being nice. Why don't you just give him a chance? You might end up liking him."

After a few moments, Weiss made a sound that was half disgusted, and half hurt, her posture echoing the hurt. "First of all, Yang, all my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name. And honestly, I already have a date in mind."

She took a step away from Yang, half turning before facing her once more. "And, secondly, what makes you think that you know what I want, or need, better than I do? What makes you think that I can't decide what I like in someone, but you suddenly have all the answers? Sure, he's nice, but I _barely_ can tolerate him as a friend most days. I just don't like him, nor can I stand him if the rest of his team aren't around. He's creepy, and he's unwilling to listen if I tell him 'no', and you seriously want me to 'give him a chance'? And what, hope that he will listen to 'no' when it really counts?" Weiss gestured at the door angrily, her form trembling in rage. "He's been stalking me the entire year, Yang. He's been stalking me in plain sight, but suddenly _I'm_ the icy bitch for telling him that I'm not interested over and over again. Suddenly _I'm_ that one who needs to change. I'm at fault, and he's just the victim. Because how _dare_ I not give some guy I don't like, who refuses to listen, a shot, right?"

Weiss paced for a few moments, not caring that Ruby and Yang were both watching her in silence. They were her friends, yet they were trying to pressure her into something she really couldn't tolerate; she had to get that through to them. "Yang, if some random guy was doing this to Ruby, stalking her, harassing her, refusing to listen to her telling him no, would you seriously be telling her to give him a chance? That she might learn to like him?"

Yang's mouth dropped slightly, the answer tumbling out, "No." If anyone did that to her little sister, they would find themselves asked to vanish before she made them vanish.

"If you aren't willing to do that to family, then why are you willing to do it to friends?"

Yang was stunned to silence, feeling incredibly awkward, and entirely foolish. Sheepishly shuffling, she rubbed the back of her head, frowning slightly. Weiss was right, what she was doing was kind of messed up now that she thought about it. "You uh... You want me to deck him?"

Weiss smiled slightly, chuckling. "No, Yang. Thank you, but I don't need you to punch him. I can handle him. Just... just don't encourage him, okay?"

Yang nodded, sitting on Blake's bed. "Well, now we just gotta figure out about how to help Blake." Impish lilac hues turned back to Weiss. "And I wanna meet this love interest. Who is it?" She draped herself along the bed in a mock seductive manner. "Is it me? Oh, Weiss. I never thought you'd ask! I can _Schnee_ right through you!"

Weiss' face was utterly blank as she casually gestured, her pillow finding itself suddenly propelled by a glyph from her own bed right at Yang's face, knocking her into Blake's bed moments before Yang herself was thrown to the floor by a second glyph.

"No." Weiss answered curtly, but the vaguely playful smile on her lips proved that she didn't mean it in a cruel way.

* * *

Cardin huffed as he readied himself for another match, watching Coco carefully as she lazily held her bag over her shoulder. She was stronger, faster, and far more experienced, and he had come to admire her as a friend and fellow team leader. She and her team were really his first friends in years, and he was beyond grateful to them.

Suddenly, she charged, and he leapt over her to avoid her bag hitting his chest, turning around to kick her back. Coco stumbled, then turned, grinning. "Not bad." She praised before throwing the bag at him.

Cardin didn't have time to grab his mace, and instead used his aura as a second armor, the red light rising out to halt the tote and push back the surprised girl.

"Okay, okay! I give!" She called with a smirk as she started to get pressed to the wall. "You won."

Cardin pulled his aura back, beaming. "Wow... First time for everything, huh?"

Propping one hand on her hip, Coco lowered her glasses to look at him playfully. "Don't let it go to your head, champ."

The door slid open to reveal a frowning Yatsuhashi. "Did you forget that we had a meeting about the dance ten minutes ago?" He scolded.

Cardin winced."That would be my fault. I needed to blow off some steam."

Velvet peeked around her teammate. "Yatsu, leave them be. But I want to take a picture before we pop off."

The giant of a man sighed, but relented, both Fox and Velvet following him towards the other two. "You _always_ take pictures, Velves."

She pulled out the camera sheepishly. "Well, aside from when I use my semblance, I just like taking them for memory sake. In case... anything happens to any of you. I want to have as many memories as possible of the ones I love."

Yatsuhashi deflated, smiling at her. "Fair enough."

Cardin moved to stand beside Coco, Velvet setting her camera on a ledge as she set the timer, Fox and Yatsuhashi also standing by the duo as she hurried back.

"Hey, Cardin." Coco whispered.

"Yeah?"

"You know, we really care about you. You're pretty cool, you know?"

He smiled kindly at the camera as it kept ticking. "That means a lot to me. Thank you. All of you, for being my friends."

"Cheeky. Don't be going soft on me." She teased.

Cardin suddenly felt her very firmly slap his ass, making him jump with a yelp right as the camera took the picture, immortalizing the first time she had done so to him. He knew he would never live this down.

* * *

Pyrrha had no idea that she could blush for this long, but in her traversing the site, she had discovered that people with her hair color were an entire fetish of their own. She really didn't want to watch any of those, but instead opted to finally pick the bisexual category, now carefully searching through the videos for something to watch. After much deliberation and even more apologizing to no one, she chose one with a blonde woman, a brunette woman, and a brunet man, hiding deeper in her blanket tent in shame as it started. Why did the very beginning have to have so many moans?! The porn hadn't even started, and the credits were making her squirm. Wait, squirm?

Pyrrha quickly reached one hand down between her thighs, feeling a warm slickness on them, trying to fix her nightgown to cover the evidence. At least the porn site was doing something and not just making her morbidly embarrassed. The actual porn started, and Pyrrha was utterly shocked at the poorly cobbled together story; people really didn't watch these for the story telling, nor the acting. However, very quickly, the three actors descended into lewd depravity, taking the staring, and blushing Pyrrha with them. Her eyes were on the very well sized member of the man, glued to how both of the woman,both were using their mouths to...

"Oh... Oh my _goodness_..." She whispered as she covered her mouth at the very dirty talk that he was using, squirming more.

However, it was the moment that he told both women to kiss and they complied that made her squeak. It had gone right through her, just as the groans of the man had. Pyrrha sat and watched in both desire and morbid curiosity, biting her lip to try to keep silent, her earbuds firmly lodged in her ears. She would have to tell Yang later that this proved that she was bisexual, and grudgingly thank her.

* * *

Glynda wasn't paid enough to deal with this, and she was going to have to have a very firm talk about a raise with Ozpin later.

She stood behind her desk, hands pressed firmly to the top as she tried her very best to control her temper. She was half incredibly impressed, and half beyond her limit at this latest Nora episode. "Miss Valkyrie," She began, her voice a low hiss of frustration, "I don't know _how_ you managed to do this, and I don't care _why_ , but _put_ that thing _back_ where it came from, or _so help me..."_

'That thing' was the Ursa Minor cub that was tucked in Nora's arms, sleeping. Nora was giving her a fantastic attempt at puppy dog eyes, trying to sway the deputy headmistress. "But, Professor, Baron Snuggles von Scrufflebutt the Fifth called me to him." She pleaded. "See, he was making sloths calls, which _everyone_ knows is a sign of distress!"

Glynda stared at her in confused sort of wonder. "Baron Snuggles von Scrufflebutt?"

"The Fifth."

Glynda took a deep, slow breath in through her nose, gently tapping her hands twice on the top of her desk. "Miss Valkyrie, _that_ is a creature of Grimm. _This_ is an academy that trains young men and women, like yourself, to fight, hunt, and ultimately _kill_ those creatures."

Nora pouted openly. "Please, Professor Goodwitch? I'll feed him, and bathe him, and everything!"

"And, pray tell, what is it that Grimm eat?"

"Erm... I uhh... Pancakes?"

"No. Now, go and put it back. And have Ren keep an eye on you _properly_ this time."

With a great sigh, Nora nodded. "Yes, Professor Goodwitch."

The girl left sulkily as Ozpin came in, the headmaster doing a double-take before looking at Glynda, Nora closing the door behind her. "Is that an Ursa Minor?"

Glynda sat hard in her chair, her head in one hand. "Yes. It is."

"Good heavens." He replied, swiftly moving to sit at the chair in front of the desk. "How on Remnant did she manage to find one, let alone escape with her life?"

"I have no idea. It was still sleeping, too."

He chuckled softly. "If I recall, Arthur wanted to bring a young Grimm back to Beacon as well. Wasn't that your second year?"

Glynda stiffened, frowning deeply at him. "Ozpin, I have asked you before-"

He ignored her, continuing. "You know, sometimes I see us in these first years. I can almost relive my youth through their eyes. They remind me so much of how things were, for us and our teams."

"Out." She curtly snapped. "Out of my office, Ozpin."

He stood slowly, tilting his head. "I... I am sorry. For upsetting you. I do forget that sometimes the past hurts to recall."

Green eyes met his golden as tears fell to the desk, Glynda's face etched in pain and anger. "Then perhaps you should remember that your choices in the past cost many people their futures."

Ozpin braced both of his hands on his cane. "Glynda, it was _war._ Sometimes there is collateral damage, and necessary casualties of war."

The expression of heartache and fury on her face made him fall silent. "Necessary casualties? Is that what you..." She stood slowly, her entire form shaking in rage. "Is _that_ what you call them?"

"Glynda-"

"They were victims of your _ego,_ Professor, _not_ the war. They didn't have to die. Not my team, or any of the others that _you_ shuffled around in your effort to be right." The tears rained down her cheeks, falling to her desk without relent. "The war didn't kill them. _You_ did."

Ozpin felt it best to remain silent, choosing not to create more damage than he had already done. He quietly left her office, the door slamming violently after him from her magic. It had been war, and he had made many tough calls all those years ago, but she was right about one thing; team GLAZ, and several others, had been victims of his ego, not the war.

* * *

Nora huffed as she walked back through the halls, already missing Snuggles. He had been surprisingly soft, and his little snores had been so cute. Who cared if he would become a murder machine as an adult; no one was perfect. But murder brought her thoughts to her sick teammate, and how she hadn't checked in on her in hours. Maybe Pyrrha would like some company. She happily skipped off down the hallway, humming a jaunty tune.

"Hmmm... This is taking to long." She muttered, pulling out Manghild.

With a giggle of glee and mischief, Nora transformed her weapon into it's hammer form. _"Gangway!"_ She called as she hopped on top of the head, pressing the trigger.

Students dove out of the way as she sped through the hall, shouting at her in annoyance and shock. When she reached the elevator, she jumped off and skid to a halt before the closed doors, pushing the button and stowing her weapon away as if nothing had happened, and the scorch marks on the floor and walls were not her doing. The elevator rang out as the door opened, Nora walking in, pressing her floor number, swaying side to side as it began it's ascent to the second floor.

When the door opened, she strolled out, quietly making her way towards her dorm. She reached the room and tried the handle, finding it locked, and so she pulled out her scroll and turned on the screen, passing it over the locking mechanism. The encrypted code registered and the door unlocked with a barely audible click, letting Nora in, closing the door behind her.

The first thing she noticed, was that the room was pitch black, which probably was from Pyrrha not feeling well. Nora let her eyes adjust, zeroing in on the fact that there was a blanket mound on her teammate's bed, and light peeking through the blanket material. It seemed that Pyrrha was watching videos under the sanctuary on her covers, and Nora grinned impishly.

Silently, she tip-toed towards Pyrrha's bed, hands outstretched and at the ready. When she was finally close enough, Nora grabbed hold of the sheets, yanked them off, and jumped onto the now exposed girl. "Pyrrha, I _missed_ you!" She cried out, the taller girl shrieking and flailing in shock.

In all the commotion, the cord for Pyrrha's earphones was pulled free of her scroll, the sounds of the video now filling the room.

_"Ahhh~!"_

"Yeah, you like that? Mmmnnn... Lick my pussy harder, slut. Fuuuck, yeah. You like him fucking you while you lick my cunt?"

"Mmmnn~! Mmhmmnn!"

For several seconds both of them froze, the shock of what was happening leaving even Nora stunned to silence. Then, both of them moved as one; Pyrrha to cover her face, while Nora dove to save the scroll she had abandoned from hitting the floor.

"I'm _so sorry!"_ Pyrrha screeched, morbidly embarrassed at being caught watching porn.

"No way! They did a new one and I hadn't seen it?!"

Pyrrha peeked through her fingers just as Nora shoved the scroll in her face, the images of the brunette girl with her head between the legs of the blonde filling her vision, snatching away the device swiftly, turning it off. "Nora, this is not something I wanted shared!"

Nora waved her hand, dismissively. "I was just checking in on you because I missed you, but I see I was interrupting your 'personal time'."

Pyrrha glowered through her beet red blush. "It's not what you think, Nora. I was just-" She found Nora's finger pressed to her lips.

"Pfft, no need to explain. Whatever floats your goat, ya know? You don't owe me an explanation; we're kinda adults. I'll be a bit more careful next time I pounce on you."

Pyrrha was stunned into silence as Nora turned on the lamp next to the bed, trying to fix her very rumbled red silk nightgown. The much smaller girl smiled at her, rocking back and forth. "You know I'll support you, right? Unless the idea is terrible. Then I want in on it."

"I... I do. Thank you, Nora." She replied shyly. "You're always there for me. I appreciate it."

A pink gloved hand scruffled scarlet hair, the impish giggle almost making Pyrrha smile. "That's what teammates are for! Now, you rest up, and keep getting better, young lady." Nora turned and walked towards the door, halting to speak before she left. "Oh! And leave one earphone out next time. Helps to hear if someone is coming."

Groaning, Pyrrha covered her face again as her teammate finally left, wanting to curl into a small enough ball that she would simply vanish from existence in her shame. Having Nora catch her watching porn had to be one of the worst moments of her life, and quite frankly, she wasn't even sure she could ever watch porn again. And yet, the porn had proven that she was, in fact, interested in women. All she had to figure out now was if she was interested in Nora as a friend, or as more?

There was only one thing to do about it; Pyrrha was going to have to spend time with just them, and see how everything panned out in the end.

* * *

Wandering the town hadn't exactly been the best of plans, but Cardin was at a loss for what to do now. He didn't want to go back to his dorm yet, and if he could help gather information, it would do everyone a service. The day was bright and warm, and it was already helping to clear away the cobwebs from his earlier interactions with his team. It made him feel better, lighter, and he took in a slow breath through his nose to fully enjoy the sensation.

Which made him close his eyes just long enough to run into someone. "Whoa! Hey, I'm sorry. You good?" He quickly rambled as he reached out to steady the small form he had collided with.

The girl looked up at him as if pondering for a while, the bow in her orange hair a bit mussed. "Yes." A grin broke out across her lips. "Salutations!"

Cardin blinked dumbly. "Ehh... Uhhhh... Salutations to you too?"

The girl stepped back and extended her right hand sharply. "My name's Penny."

Cardin took the hand a bit warily, shaking it firmly. "Cardin. Cardin Winchester. It's nice to meet you, Penny."

"It's sensational to meet you too, Cardin." Penny was positively beaming at him. "What are you doing, Cardin?"

He set his lips in a firm line. "Just... Walking. Trying to clear my head."

"Hmm..." She leaned forwards, looking up at him from her shorter height, suddenly popping up gleefully. "Then I shall accompany you! My friend Ruby likes to talk to me to feel better. Perhaps I can help you feel better too!"

As much as Cardin wanted to protest, he somehow found Penny to already help him feel better. Maybe Ruby was onto something. "Uh, yeah. Let's go, then."

As the duo walked, Cardin found himself pulled into several odd conversations about nothing in particular. It was incredibly refreshing to just talk to someone other than team CVFY, and Penny reminded him of Ruby; innocent, kind, happy, energetic, and eager to please. He made a mental note to stop in and apologize to them about how he had acted, and a second to do the same with Jaune and Pyrrha.

However, the sound of jeering drew his attention, Penny seeing a very drastic change in him as he held up his hand. "Hang on, Penny." He stated, looking around. "Just... Do you hear that?"

She nodded, then pointed in front of them and to the left. "That way."

Both of them moved swiftly towards the noise, finally coming upon a gaggle of people clearly attempting to beat someone in the middle of the group to death. _"Shit!"_ Cardin growled, unsure of what to do; he had never come across a lynching on his own before, but what choice did he have?

He grabbed his mace from his hip, running towards the knot of attackers and starting to throw them aside angrily. "Beacon Academy Hunter! Move aside, or I will make you move!"

When someone punched him on the jaw, he swung his weapon, throwing several people several feet away.

"It's not workin' on him. He's human." Someone called out. "Fuck it, let's go!"

Several more people started running, thinning out the mass until the remaining attackers proved too cowardly without numbers on their side. Penny casually threw several people after some of of the runners, hitting a few of her marks with their fellow lynchers.

Cardin hurried to the battered and bleeding form of a young woman, her shirt torn in several places, and her raven hair matted with blood from head injuries, crimson already being choked out from her lips. But the most unnerving part was that her eyes were that of a goat, horns sprouting from her head, her wiry goat hair sprouted in patches on her neck, arms, and stomach.

"She's... changed?" Penny whispered in confusion.

"Yeah." He replied quickly, trying to assess the injuries to the clearly terrified were. He was afraid to touch her, worried he would only make it worse. "Hey, hey. We're here to help. Can you walk?"

She shook her head very slowly. "B-broken." A hand half changed to a hoof shifted part of the barely intact shirt aside, exposing knife wounds. "Th-they..." She started whimpering, the sound vaguely laced with a bleating noise. "I'm scared... Oh God... Oh, God..."

Cardin's eyes widened in horror. "What's your name?" He pressed, trying to calm them both.

"Am-melia... M-my brother... They'll be after him next."

"Amelia, what's his name? Where is he?"

"Conner. Please, d-don't go. I'm so scared."

Cardin felt her try to hold onto his arm, but the mix of blood-loss and being partially changed made her incredibly weak. He could hear her breathing becoming more labored, and he knew she was fading fast. "Amelia. Amelia, stay with me." He urged, watching her choke and panic on the blood rising in her throat. _"Amelia!"_

Her body bucked several times, her eyes shifting back to human, revealing brilliant purple hues, though the terror that filled them made them seem wild. Blood splattered her chin violently as she fought against her filling lungs, and finally, went she went still with a wet gurgle, her face twisted in pain and fear.

"Amelia! Amelia!" Cardin shouted, then hit the bloody pavement with an open hand. _"Dammit!"_

He stood, pacing, unsure of what to do with the hand that was smattered in blood. He was angry, scared, sad, and he had no idea what to do now.

"Why was she changed partially?" Penny inquired. "It's daylight."

"I don't know, but it's happening a lot with these damn lynchings." He replied, pulling out his scroll.

Penny stood awkwardly as he spoke tersely to his headmaster, scanning the area for any clues. Not even she could fathom how a were had been half changed, nor who was the culprit. She would have to report this back to her father later.

Cardin closed his scroll, his expression haunted and grim. "We have to keep her safe. Please, help me guard her."

Penny felt a surge of compassion from her emotions chip, nodding to him. "I will. Where do you need me?"

"I guess, watch this side of the alley. I'll watch the other. My friends will be here shortly. They... They do this a lot."

Penny watched him walk away, then turned to keep watch as she had promised. It was easy for her to keep an eye out for anyone who wanted to come and see what had happened. It was only when people came running towards them that she readied her weapons.

"Penny, wait! Those are my friends!" Cardin called, running towards them.

The four teens rushed on to the scene, Yatsuhashi going to the dead woman while Fox took up watch where Cardin had been, listening for anyone to approach. Velvet leaned up on her tiptoes to hug him firmly, gently whispering to him before joining the other two.

Coco reached out to lay her hand on his shoulder, tilting her head in concern. "Hey. How are you holding up?" She inquired softly.

Cardin's half-broken gaze met hers, and she could see the tears in his eyes. "This... Does _this_ ever get easier?" He choked out.

Her head shook, her heart breaking for him. "No. It never does. You just learn to cry later."

Cardin nodded weakly, bowing his head to try and hide his tears, Coco wrapping her arms around him. "Shhhh... You can cry. It's okay, Cardin." She whispered as he tried to brush away the tears, knowing that he was angry at himself for letting people see him like this; she had once been the same about letting her team see her cry.

"I used to be like them. How could I have ever wanted that?"

"You were raised to hate and fear them. Just like those people were. Sometimes, we don't want to try to change."

Penny was pulled from watching the two talking by Velvet, facing her somberly. "Thank you for helping. It means a lot."

Penny smiled and offered a salute, "Salutations. I was with him, so it only made sense to help. I only wish we had been here earlier."

"I am well used to that wish. You are staying at Beacon, right? I think I've seen you in the halls."

She nodded. "Yes. Shall we go back?"

Velvet looked over her shoulder at the two males, Yatsuhashi holding the limp form in his arms. "I... Yes. We should. Professor Ozpin will want to ask you about this." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "I'm Velvet."

"Penny, at your service. Let's go."

Slowly, the students began the trek back to the school, all wondering what was happening to the weres, and what it meant for the world.


	17. B Rook (CFVY) takes W Knight (JR) B5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I return! I'm sorry for being away for so long! Life has been nuts, and a lot of things are happening. I am not abandoning this fic, so please don't worry if it takes a while to update. Hell, people who read Courage-less have been waiting for four years for an update (I am working on it, I swear!), so please be patient. Next chapter will be underway soon, so don't you worry.
> 
> WARNING: REALLY FUCKED UP SHIT NEAR THE END. Near sexual assault and creepy Junior warnings. Please be advised.
> 
> Shout outs:
> 
> GrnDrgnzrd: I actually enjoy exploring more of Cardin, as he really should have been seen to change in the show about how he treated people, or something. I guess I just want to show what he could be like if given the right push. Not every villain deserves a redemption, but he was left untouched and that was a shame.
> 
> Disclaimer: I, obviously, do NOT own RWBY. At all. In any way, shape, or form.

Jaune swung his sword up swiftly, blocking Pyrrha's down stroke almost perfectly. She seemed a bit distracted tonight, probably from being ill earlier, but he was going to use that to his advantage. Her expression was set with concentration as she disengaged, then came back suddenly, but he once again blocked her.

"Not bad." She grinned, happily praising his quick thinking.

Jaune felt a bit of a smirk touch his lips as he started to bear down on her weapon with his. Maybe, just maybe, he would win his first sparring match.

That hope came crashing down as she ducked down and swept his legs out from under him, knocking Jaune flat onto his back. A moment later, and the tip of her sword was at his throat, marking Pyrrha as the victor of yet another practice session.

"Your swordplay has improved immensely." She admitted as she pulled him to his feet. "Let's start on your aura."

Jaune winced openly. "I'm actually thinking about skipping on aura tonight. Might go on a jog tonight something."

Pyrrha gave him her best smile, leaning a bit closer supportively. "Come on, I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I'm sure you'll discover your Semblance any day now."

His shoulders sagged slightly. "It's not that. It's," Jaune hesitated, stopping himself, "dumb."

Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "What is it? You know you can tell me anything, Jaune."

He seemed to struggle with himself for a few moments before giving in. "It's Weiss." He finally admitted.

Pyrrha felt her name like a slap to the face, her smile vanishing quickly. "Oh. What about her?"

He walked away from her, sighing as he leaned on the low wall, looking over the grounds sadly. "I asked her to the dance, and she shot me down." A bitter chuckle escaped him. "Big surprise, huh?"

She pulled a soft smile back into her lips, trying her best to reassure him. "Well, as the saying goes; plenty of fish in the sea."

Jaune barked with laughter, the sound almost mocking. "That's easy for you to say. You probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out." His blue eyes were full of hurt, glancing her way without empathy.

Pyrrha couldn't help the half-hearted chuckle that slipped out, her own posture sinking. "You'd be surprised." She admitted. She wasn't trying to compare pain, she only wanted to help him. Maybe she could work up the courage to ask him out tomorrow.

"Please," He scoffed, his expression almost uncaring as he pushed himself away from the wall, "you're Pyrrha Nikos. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress."

As he stalked off, Pyrrha looked to the ground, her arms holding herself tightly. No one had asked her to the dance, yet. It felt so painful to be seen as unattainable to everyone, and then as invisible to Jaune. His words had cut through her like a blade, shaking her to the core; everyone was expecting so much of her, and she had no idea where to even start to try to make everything work. Jaune needed her for mentoring and support, and though she wanted to take that step with him, he was perpetually focused on Weiss.

Part of her heart burned with hate and jealousy at the thought of the other girl, but it wasn't Weiss' fault; it was clear that she wanted nothing to do with Jaune. He was very single minded, and though she admired that about him, he also was blinded to anything else around him, including her.

She would wait for him, yes. But when would she actually make a move of her own? She couldn't rely on him seeing her on his own, so maybe, just maybe, she would have to take matters into her own hands.

* * *

Blake woke up with a start when she felt someone shake her gently, reaching for Gambol Shroud on reflex.

"Easy, easy." She heard Scarlet gently urge, his voice calm and even. "It's almost eleven. You asked us to wake you up about now."

Blake's eyes brought the red headed teen into focus, giving him a groggy sigh. "Wow. I slept that long?"

A cup of tea was pressed into her hand. "Yeah. You needed it." Scarlet took a long sip from his own mug. "I think you almost gave Sun a black eye earlier."

"Well, he of all people should know why it was a stupid idea. I can't focus on a dance when there are far more important things to focus on."

Scarlet looked into his cup pensively for several moments before speaking. "Well, you will do as you choose. But, if you were on our team, we would have locked you in your room to force you to rest."

She made a sound of clear disgust. "Not you too, Scarlet. I've heard enough of this from my own team."

"So you came here? Blake, I don't think you get it; you matter to Sun, so you matter to us." He sighed and took another sip to get his thoughts in order. "I won't bring it up again, but just try to listen to your team. They care about you. Any decent team will always care about any of the members."

Blake couldn't deny his words, but the underlying truth of the White Fang involvement was still too pressing to be left alone. She couldn't ease up her relentless search for a moment. "I guess." She muttered noncommittally. After a moment more, she questioned back in a playful tone, "And how would locking me in the room have done anything? Windows are a thing, you know."

Scarlet pondered for a moment before replying, "Tying you to the bed would have been the next step, I guess."

A bemused smirk tugged at Blake's lips as she finished her tea. "Oooh, kinky."

"Perv." But Scarlet couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips.

* * *

Pyrrha sighed heavily as she walked slowly through the halls, her arms still wrapped around herself slightly. She would have to think of some way to confess her feelings to Jaune, but every time she tried, her face burned and her mind when blank with worry. What if he rejected her? What if he mocked her? What if he accepted? What if he remained so painfully oblivious towards her? She didn't know which would be worse; remaining silent, or being rejected.

_"He doesn't see you at all, Pyrrha."_

Nora's words kept breaking through her thoughts, making her question even why she thought it was wise to pursue him. But she didn't know what could be if she didn't try at the very least, even if he was only ever looking at Weiss regardless of how many ways she told him no.

"Pyrrha!" A voice called, cracking slightly.

She was torn from her ever darkening mind by it, looking up to see Cardin walking swiftly closer. When he was only a few yards away, Pyrrha could see how red and bleary his eyes were, the fading splotches on his cheeks. "What... Cardin, are you alright?"

Cardin ran his hand through his hair a few times, taking in a deep breath. "I..." She could see him struggling with something before crumbling. "No, not really. But I need to talk to you."

Instantly, Pyrrha was worried for him. "What's happened?"

However, he shook his head, his voice thick in his throat. "I can't talk about that. I just... a lot happened. And, I just wanted to tell you that I am so, so damn sorry for being a dick to you before."

For several moments, Pyrrha stared at him as if questioning her own sanity, dumbfounded. It took a bit longer to form words again. "It's... alright. Do you want to talk in private?"

He shook his head again. "No, no. It's fine. I already spoke to Jaune, and I apologized to him too. Everything I said, and did, it was really fucked up. I was an asshole to you guys. To Velvet, and pretty much everyone. I am so damn sorry for doing that. You never deserved how I treated you."

Part of Pyrrha was waiting for him to laugh and tell her he was just joking, to start acting like a jerk again. But it didn't come, and she had to smile softly at him; whatever had made him change had turned him into a good person. "I forgive you, and I thank you for apologizing. It takes great courage to admit faults. I can admire that."

Cardin looked utterly baffled at her words, chuckling a bit. "Not really feeling courageous. It just was wrong if me to do that to you guys."

"Regardless, I thank you." She paused for a moment before beaming at him again. "I was considering going out for ice cream. Would you care to join me? I would appreciate the company."

He seemed to consider turning her down, but a shy smile tugged at his lips. "Actually, ice cream sounds really nice right now. I'll buy."

Pyrrha waved him off. "I'm not without money, you know."

He chuckled quietly. "Oh, I know. Just, think of it as further apologies, okay?"

"Alright. But I choose the shop."

"Deal."

* * *

Blake was still tired as she made her way back to her dorm, however her feet decided to change direction. All too suddenly she found herself back in the library, but didn't have the willpower to keep searching for clues.

There was so much she had to find answers for, so much that she couldn't understand. Never had she imagined that the Fang would work with humans, let alone one like Roman. He was the worst kind of monster to the were-creatures, and the kind that she had the least problem with seeing dead.

"Hey."

She jumped at the voice, her blade already in her hand as she whipped around to see Yang.

"Whoa there. Easy. It's just me." She seemed to let out a breath as Gambol was stowed once again. "Thought I would find you here."

"Yeah. You found me."

Yang gave her a half-hearted smile. "We need to talk. C'mon."

Before Blake could protest, she found herself being pulled away from the library, only partially unwilling to follow; she was far too tired to really stop her.

Yang took her to one of the lecture rooms, closing the door behind them as she walked towards the desk. It didn't take long before she started talking. "You know... When I was a girl, I lived on Patch. My Dad raised us with Mom. She was amazing. Like, Super Mom. Baker of cookies and slayer of Grimm."

Blake walked closer, very quiet.

"I loved her, and she loved us. When she died, Dad lost it. That's when I found out that she wasn't the first time Dad lost the woman he loved. See, Summer wasn't my real mother. My real mother... She left us when I was a baby."

* * *

Cardin sat across from Pyrrha as they poked at their ice cream sundaes, listening to her venting for what seemed like the first time.

"See, Jaune was the first person to really not care about who I was. My fame didn't scare him. But if I have to hear him talk about Weiss one more time, I will throw my bed through the wall."

He felt a smirk tug at his lips. "I mean, that's one way to remodel. Doubt Professor Goodwitch would appreciate it, though."

She gave him a tired smile. "I suppose. I mean, what would you do?"

Cardin held up his hands. "Don't look at me for advice. I'm the worst. I usually kind of led a girl on, slept with her, and left like the fine morning mist."

"That's _horrible!_ " Pyrrha gasped.

He let out a disheartened chuckle. "Yeah. I know. I'm a horrible person. Trust me, I have more than just a few schoolmates to apologize to." He locked his eyes with hers. "How did you not punch me every time you saw me?"

It was her turn to chuckle. "I like to believe the best in everyone. And I suppose that you've changed."

Cardin waved his spoon of rocky road around dismissively. "God, I hope so. If I start acting like a dick again, please punch me."

"Happily." Pyrrha agreed, tapping their spoons together in a toast.

After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, Cardin spoke up once again as he casually stole a spoonful of Pyrrha's ice cream. "What's your family like?"

Pyrrha lazily used her semblance to hit his nose with his spoon playfully, moving her bowl away from him. "Well, my brothers are both without a semblance, but are very good with weapons. Mom and Dad were huntsmen. We get along well, and my brothers both helped to train me. Everyone was so proud of me when I showed such great talent."

Cardin used his hand to wipe the smudge of strawberry from his nose. "What's it like having siblings?"

Pyrrha let out a dry laugh. "Annoying at times. Constantly trying to play pranks on me, and the number of times they tickled me was unreasonable at best." A bemused smirk lingered on her lips. "Still, they are good to me, and they always send encouragement to me to keep doing well."

"Hmmm." He hummed neutrally.

"And your family?"

Cardin idly poked at his ice cream. "My father and my stepmother make weapons and weapon components. Winchester Industries. They both... Well, they are always miserable."

Pyrrha's spoon gently halted in her bowl. "And your mother?"

"She died. When I was still a kid. Looking back on it, I'm pretty sure she died of a broken heart."

Pyrrha reached out her hand to place on his. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

A heavy sigh left Cardin's lips. "It's fine. My Dad was a prick. He cheated on her with my stepmother, and it was a bit too much when she found out. She died somehow. Might have been suicide, but I dunno."

"What's... what's your stepmother like?"

He took a moment to guide another spoonful of ice cream to his mouth. "Well... sometimes nice, but generally miserable. Just like my father, I guess. They used to be really happy, but now, they just are so cruel. They... They taught me that weres were monsters. Maybe something had happened with one in the past, but I just know that I was raised to think they were things they aren't."

Pyrrha poked at her ice cream silently, digesting the information of her companion. "What was your mother like?"

A soft smile lit his features. "She was gentle. Very kind. You would have liked her. I miss her sometimes."

His gaze drifted off a bit and he waved at someone behind Pyrrha. "Hey!" Cardin called out, motioning to them.

Pyrrha turned to follow his line of sight, seeing a young girl with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes slowly make her way over.

"Penny, this is Pyrrha. Pyrrha, meet Penny. She was with me earlier."

The small girl offered her a salute. "Salutations!"

Pyrrha flashed her a kind smile. "Pleasure to meet you, Penny. Would you like to join us?"

"I would be delighted." Was the rather cheery reply.

"Want an ice cream? It's really good." Cardin offered.

Instead she shook her head. "No, thank you Cardin. I am not hungry." She internally wondered what it tasted like. Perhaps she could ask her father to do something about that.

* * *

Coco watched as Velvet helped Yatsuhashi into his armor, Fox tapping his foot on the floor anxiously. It was very close to a full moon, which meant that tonight there was a very high chance of lynchings. It meant that at any moment tonight, Velvet might be exposed to the crowd, and she could die. The very thought of it sent her blood cold.

"Will you be okay tonight, Velves?" Fox whispered in a hushed voice.

She turned as the last buckle was secured. "I... Yeah, I will."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I just... maybe think you should take the back. Just in case. Be the last one in to break up any crowds."

Her eyes flicked over to Coco, watching her shrug. "Why? What's different tonight?"

Yatsuhashi spoke up from above her. "We _know_ , Velvet. We've known since the second full moon. Fox might be blind, but he isn't stupid."

The young woman froze up, not looking at anyone in particular. "You knew? This whole time?"

"Away on full moons, always sick on new moons." Fox stated blandly. "Not hard to figure out."

"And you're both.. still with me?" Her voice sounded stunned, disbelieving.

Yatsuhashi leaned down to embrace her. "We love you, Velvet. Even if you turn into a caterpillar every month."

"Rabbit, actually. I'm a brown rabbit." She chuckled out nervously.

"That makes even more sense." Fox beamed back.

Velvet wiggled her nose as she brushed away tears. "You're a bloody stupid lot, you know that?" She replied.

Three pairs of arms held her firmly, three pairs of lips showering her hair with kisses. It was a weight off of her shoulders to finally not have to feel fear about who and what she was. It was almost as liberating as changing under the full moon. "Right." She finally pulled free of their grasp. "Let's do this."

* * *

Blake stood in the lecture hall for a few moments after Yang left, sighing at the strange symbol on the board. Her mother had left her out of nowhere, and blindly she followed in desperation. As much as she hated to admit it, Yang was right; she was blindly following a path that could easily lead her to possible death if she wasn't careful. She had to stop, think, and rest. And now, she wasn't alone. Yang was there to help her, and so was the rest of her team. Even their friends. She didn't have to run ahead alone this time.

She walked past the rows of benches and desks, glancing at the one they usually took up. It was strange being a part of a group again, one that was good, and tried to make a difference. Even Weiss was doing all she could to change how she looked at her kind, even if progress was slow.

_"You know... when I was a girl, I lived on Patch."_

The line came from nowhere in her mind, but her stomach sank slowly. With those words, an old, hollow feeling of fear rose from within her, scents of now and the last time she was on Patch mingling. There was something in her present that was pulling at her heart, and she suddenly found her feet propelling her after Yang, her mind whirling with images.

She saw the halls, and then was staring down the barrel of a gun.

She heard murmurs of students, and then the crying of a young Weiss.

She smelled the warmth of the midsummer sun, and saw Yang ahead of her, the blonde turning around to see her swiftly approaching, her eyes wide in mild surprise.

"Aww, you missed me that much?" Yang teased.

_"Awwww, bye Shroud! See ya next month!"_

Blake wrapped her arms around Yang with crushing strength, causing her to wheeze softly from the force. She could hear herself sobbing into the crook of Yang's neck, her exhausted body unable to hide her myriad of emotions.

"Blake? What's going on?" Yang managed through the tight grip. Were-creatures had one hell of a firm hug near the full moon.

"It was you. It was _you_. You were the girl." The words sputtered out through the heavy tears.

"Blake, you're not making sense. And I think you're going to break my ribs."

The grip loosened, and their eyes met.

It took a moment for Blake to compose herself and speak rationally. "On Patch. You were the girl who would come out on full moons. You gave me tuna. You called me Shroud."

Yang's mouth hung open slightly, unable to form words as she stared at Blake. Things slowly sunk in for her, old memories that had been long since dismissed as probable dreams coming back in a hazy cloud. "Whoa. Wait. You... you're telling me that you, Blake Belladonna... _You_ were that black cat I used to feed?!"

Blake sheepishly shuffled. "Yes. It's why my weapon is Gambol Shroud. Gambol was my brother. Shroud was... the name you gave me. One of my last happy memories before Weiss' father killed my family."

Yang was visibly floored. _"Weiss' father?!"_ She all but screeched.

Blake tugged her to the side quickly, speaking in a hushed voice. "Please, not too loud." She glanced around before continuing. "I ran into Weiss on the full moon. We heard her mother scream, and my mother went to help her. Weredogs were attacking her, but we, Gambol, Weiss, and I, got there after her father did. I know Mom would never have killed a human, but he didn't. He... he killed my mother and brother. He would have killed me too."

"How did you survive?"

Blake chuckled bitterly. "Weiss begged him not to. She knew that my mother tried to save her, and that it had been the others. She convinced him to let me live."

Yang gently hugged her. "Have you told her yet?"

"No. Not yet. She's not ready yet. And, I'm scared to tell her what I am."

Both of them pulled back, Yang taking Blake's hands into her own. "Then when you're ready, I'll be next to you. I'll keep you safe, I promise."

Blake smiled and squeezed Yang's hands gently, nodding. "Thank you. For always being there. Even when you didn't know it was me."

A wicked gleam sparked in lilac eyes. "You know, now it makes sense why I like pussy."

Blake turned a deep red and swat her on the side of her head, a very soft growl rumbling from her chest. "We were having a perfectly good moment, and you had to go and make it weird." She hissed before stalking away.

Yang laughed as she watched her go; if Blake had a tail, she was entirely sure that it would be slashing around behind her.

* * *

Coco and her team moved quietly through the town, listening intently for something, anything that could help them. They had covered all of the usual areas, and were heading for the back alleyways for any lynching gatherings. Usually, it was easy to spot a group of people just sitting around with bloodlust in their eyes. But tonight, so close to the next full moon, it was unnerving void of any activity.

"I don't like this." Fox murmured softly. "It's too quiet."

Velvet nodded as she sniffed the air, wary of just how quiet it really was out here. There was no one out aside from people shopping or eating, and the innocence in the air filled her with dread. This close to changing, there should be something happening, and it was nothing less than terrifying. Quiet meant planning. Planning meant more deaths.

Suddenly, Fox halted, tilting his head towards the right. "Wait. Someone is fighting." He hissed, edging towards the more industrial area. "Sounds like... someone is being attacked."

All at once, the four teens started rushing off after the sound he had heard, their feet slapping against the pavements harder than their hearts hammered in their chests. If someone was being attacked, it could be just two drunks, but they had to still break it up. It could be important. It could be a lead.

"Just keep quiet, you little whore." A male voice growled from an alley up ahead, followed by a soft cry of pain.

"Beacon Academy Hunters!" Coco shouted out as the closeness turned shadows into figures. "Back off now, or I swear to... what the fuck?!"

A large man was looking at them in fury, his snarl clear as he dropped the young woman to the dirty ground in front of him. "Fuck off, kids. This is my were-bitch." He growled.

The woman cowered away from him, holding her torn shirt over her exposed chest in terror, panting like a trapped animal. "Help, help please!" She begged them, crying.

Yatsuhashi surged forward with his sword, slashing down at the man silently, hate in his eyes. When he rolled away, he turned to glare at him, watching as he zipped up his dress pants.

"Now, now, kids. Is this any way to interrupt an adult conversation?" The man goaded.

Velvet dashed forward to reach the woman, helping her to cover herself as she spoke in a hushed voice, trying to calm her down.

"Leave the bitch and I'll forget I saw your faces." He growled, sliding on a pair of red sunglasses.

"How about we get her away from you, and maybe, just maybe, we don't kill your ass right now." Coco shot back.

"You don't know who you're messing with, do you?"

"I think I don't give a fuck." Coco snarled. "Get her out of here, Velvet."

Just as Velvet moved to start helping the woman up, a horrible pain shot through her body, forcing her to her knees in agony. "Gaaah! Nnngg!" She whimpered as her body starts contorting, her screams of agony joining with that of the woman.

Coco and Yatsuhashi turned to watch as both woman started thrashing around, their skin tearing in places as their clothing started to rip, brown fur erupting in patches on Velvet's body, while stripes of orange and black spread along the other woman's.

"Well, well. Looks like I found two little toys tonight." The man mocked.

However Fox moved swiftly at the man, throwing a few punches hard enough to break his ribs. He charged up a large amount of his aura for his next one, and lashed out, hearing something metallic practically disintegrate from the force.

"Fucking hell!" The man cried out in pain, stumbling away from him.

Fox could hear his teammates trying to help Velvet and the woman as he kept attacking the man, feeling an arm snap from a kick, and another rib crack from a punch. "Who are you?" He grit out in focused fury.

"N-name's Junior." Was the pained reply.

"Good-bye, Junior." He snarled, punching him hard in his chest.

He heard the air leave the man in a hushed groan before the body collapsed to the ground, not moving. He wasn't sure if he was breathing, but he didn't care. He had to check on the others.

"Fox, we gotta get them back to Beacon. They look hurt." Coco urged, panic in her voice.

"J-just a bit... changed..." Velvet whimpered out. "Happens every m-month."

Without regard for her failed lie of reassurance, Coco lifted her into her arms, Yatsuhashi taking the other woman as the group quickly raced back to Beacon.

* * *

Velvet sat on the bed as Glynda watched the nurse check her over again, not meeting her gaze. It was bad enough that her clothes had torn in several places, let alone that she had been carried back as if wounded.

"Everything checks out. Aside from changing when there's no full moon." The woman stated plainly.

Velvet cowered away from Glynda, afraid of being chastised for her failure to evade... whatever it was that had forced her change.

"That's a relief. Are you okay, Velvet?" The voice of the deputy headmistress was full of bare concern, causing her to look up at her in disbelief.

The green eyes were worried, her posture close and trying to be comforting. "Yes. A bit sore, but right as rain." Velvet responded softly.

"I'm glad. Take it easy tonight."

Glynda smiled at her softly before walking away, marching to the other three. The moment they saw her, Coco started a barrage of questions.

"Is she okay? She isn't hurt, is she? Is the other woman okay? What the hell made them do that?"

Glynda held up a hand to halt her words. "Both of them are sore, but otherwise fine. Sara is a bit shaken as well, obviously. Now, I need to know what exactly happened."

"I don't know." Fox admitted. "The Junior man had something metal, but I destroyed it. It may have been a weapon, or it could have been whatever forced them to change."

"This is most unsettling." Glynda stated. "We will watch Sara for now, and if possible, relocate her and her family for safety. As for this Junior," She spat his name out like venom. "I will start looking into him, and we will try to stop him before he tries again. Hopefully find out what he used and where he got it. Provided you didn't finish him off, Fox."

* * *

Junior felt a cane poke at his back, numbly reaching out to swat it away.

"Oh good. You're not dead." A voice chortled above him.

Junior wheeze as he forced himself to his feet, grunting in pain from the broken bones. "Beacon brats got me. Took away that bitch you sent me."

Roman sighed and rolled his eyes. "Great. Just peachy. I send you another one to break, and you lose them to Ozpin? What kind of underling are you?"

A sharp prod at his ribs sent Junior back to his knees, and the pink eyes of Neo locked with his. Her sadistic smile was obvious as the blade in her umbrella slid out, and he knew she would kill him.

"What if I told you I knew a were creature in the school. You wouldn't want me dead if I could give you that kind of information, would you?" Junior ground out.

Roman held up his hand, the blade sliding back into it's hiding place. "Well, if you could do that, then I would consider this whole mess a tactical loss for a larger success. But only if you could also tell me what they looked like."

Junior grinned a red-rimmed grin of mirth. "Velvet. A girl with long brown hair, brown eyes, and wears brown and gold armor. Looked like she was turning into a rabbit or a mink." He spat out a bit of blood. "She's on one of the teams that break up the lynchings. A real easy target."

Roman paused, considering the information before beaming brightly. "You, my good man, certainly did the right thing. A common were for one of those mongrels that could take down the trust of the Academy? Brilliant thinking." He motioned for his small companion to move closer to Junior. "Neo? Be a dear and help him back to our place. He's been compromised, so we have to keep this very helpful friend safe."

With a cheerful nod, Neo moved closer to help him to his feet, using quite a bit of care. Junior grunted as they moved as quickly as his ribs would allow, grinning to himself. He would make those brats pay for this. Maybe Roman would even let him play with that Velvet girl a while. He would enjoy breaking her.


End file.
